


More Than Meets the Eye

by LadySapphire928



Series: War of Stars and Primes [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Crossover, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23150710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySapphire928/pseuds/LadySapphire928
Summary: Back and hopefully better than ever is the reboot of my original story: Alora seems like an ordinary girl to Jack, Miko, and Raf, but on that fateful day where they meet the Autobots and Team Jedi, they come to find out that there is more to Alora than meets the eye. Originally posted on FanFiction.net
Relationships: Arcee/Optimus Prime, Bumblebee/ Original Female Character(s), Knock Out/Original Female Character(s), Megatron (Transformers)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Slight Optimus Prime/ Original Female Character(s), Starscream/Original Female Characters
Series: War of Stars and Primes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664191
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue/Chapter One: Darkness Rising Part 1

**-Prologue-**

"Come on Alora, run!" Jack yelled as Alora ran past him. He, a young 15 year old named Alora, and their friends Miko and Raf were at the school's track where Alora would run everyday for an hour or so.

"I'm running as fast as I can Jack," Alora huffed as she attempted to run faster.

"Come on Alora, I know you can run faster than that!" Miko exclaimed.

"Jack, Miko, I think Alora's doing her best," Raf reasoned out of concern for his friend.

"I guess you're right Raf," Jack sighed, before turning to the young Japanese girl. "Miko stop the watch."

"Aw," said the girl, pouting as she stopped the timer. "Alora! Break time!"

Alora slowed to a stop in front of them, sweat beading her face. "What? A break?" she asked. "I was doing good."

"You have asthma though," Raf said as he handed her a towel, and her water bottle.

"I know I do Raf, but I have to keep trying my hardest," Alora said, wiping her face with the towel.

"Why do you love to run again?" Miko asked.

"Someone wants to run a marathon apparently," Jack said.

"Twelve minutes, you've done better," Raf said as he checked the watch.

"Twelve?" The redhead frowned. "You seriously stopped me after twelve?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Alora, Raf's right, the last thing we need is you to overdo it and have an asthma attack on us."

She was about to respond back to him when her cell phone cut her off.

"Hello?" she questioned, answering the call, and holding up a hand to show she needed a minute. The three nodded and walked a little ways away so she could have some privacy.

_"Alora, Optimus has requested that you return to base, the Autobot's are going on patrol and they need Arcee back,"_ said the very familiar voice of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Alora's sighed and looked over at her friends, offering an apologetic smile. "Right, I'll be home soon."

On the other line, Obi-Wan shook his head. _"Out running again were you? You sound out of breath. Just be careful."_ With that, the master and his padawan said their farewells and hung up.

"You have to go don't you Ally?" Raf asked.

"Yeah, my Dad wants me home," Alora lied. "I'll meet you here tomorrow though!"

The three looked at each other in question before nodding at the auburn haired teen.

"Yeah, same time tomorrow then," Jack said with a wave as everyone went their separate ways.

* * *

**-Chapter One: Darkness Rising Part 1-**

It was a beautiful late afternoon. The sun was setting, the birds were chirping, and there was a gentle breeze. Here we find two Autobots patrolling their respective areas, and enjoying a small chat.

"So, there I am on the lookout when out of nowhere, these high beams light up my rearview. And then it hits me. I'm illegally parked!" Cliffjumper recalled a story to Arcee, via commlink.

"Another parking ticket?" Arcee sighed in exasperation.

"Better. The Boot."

"Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove," Arcee corrected.

"Bingo! So the local police do their thing. I let them get all the way down the block. That's when I kicked off my new shiny shoe and BAM!" Cliffjumper exclaimed.

"New York's finest soil themselves?"

"You know me, Arcee. You mess with Cliffjumper," Cliffjumper started.

"And you get the horns. Not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number one: keep a low profile," Arcee reminded, a smirk evident in her voice.

"What can I say? Patrolling for Energon out here in Dullsville is lonesome. Almost makes me miss the Decepticons, maybe even a droid armada or two."

"Like Jasper, Nevada's a party? We're alone wherever we travel on this rock Cliff."

Cliffjumper was ready to reply back when his sensors started going off, alerting him of something. The screen changed from the road route of the area Cliffjumper was currently traveling to a sonar picture of the area he was traveling in. He picked up something on the radar not far from his current position.

"I'm getting a signal," Cliffjumper announced.

"Need backup?"

"Do I ever need backup?" Cliffjumper replied, before going off-road.

He sped towards the location. When he arrived, he skidded to a stop at the edge of a ditch.

"I just found a whole lot of Energon," Cliffjumper proclaimed before the sky darkened and he suddenly transformed, "Scrap!"

Shots were fired and Cliff found himself being hurled towards the crystallized Energon. With a small groan, he managed to pick himself back up. "Arcee, about that backup…"

"Fair warning, boys. I'm gonna put a few dings in ya," Cliffjumper warned the Decepticons that stood before him before transforming into his vehicle mode.

Revving his engine, he sped up the wall of the ditch, flew off of it, transformed into his bipedal mode once again and began beating those almost mindless Decepticon drones into scrap metal.

* * *

_"Arcee to Optimus. The 'Cons are back. Cliff might be neck deep in scrap."_

"Understood. Ratchet, do you have Cliffjumper's coordinates?" The one and only Optimus Prime asked his old friend and trusty medic, Ratchet.

"I've locked on his signal, Optimus. But our team is scattered across time zones. Perhaps someone from Team Jedi could help," Ratchet informed Optimus as he skidded to a stop on the icy road, the other three doing the same.

_"Already working on it big guys, no need to worry your pretty metal heads about it!"_ Chimed in the familiar voice of Ahsoka Tano, who happened to be a very good friend of Alora's.

"Arcee. Bulkhead. Bumblebee. Rendezvous back at base and prepare to Groundbridge," Optimus instructed before the three Autobots did so.

_"We will prepare ourselves so you may receive some assistance,"_ Obi-Wan said.

_"And for the love of all things that are good, be careful!"_ Alora said.

* * *

When it comes to things like a fight, there are times where Cliffjumper thought that he wouldn't need backup; that defeating this wave of Decepticons and claiming that Energon supply would be easy as wiping out an armada of Separatist droids. However, there were also times where he wished that his backup would hurry up, but we don't always get what we want, do we? While he was thinking about this, a Decepticon hit Cliffjumper so hard that one of his horns flew off his head and sent him right back into the Energon ditch. At least he was the type that got back on their feet quickly, though, he would mourn the loss of his horn until Ratchet could weld it back on.

"You want the horns? You got them," Cliffjumper said as he charged his cannons and fired.

He took out drone after drone until suddenly a bomb rained down on the Energon supply, engulfing everyone and everything in bright blue flames. The majority of the Energon supply was destroyed, and Cliffjumper was captured by the Decepticons.

* * *

Up in the ship above the sight of the fight, the Decepticon Second in Command, Starscream, a teenage girl that was to be the the heir to the Decepticons, and none other than the Sith Lord, Count Dooku, stood by and watched the events unfold. He watched the blue smoke as the Energon supply was blown to nothing that could be labeled as usable.

"The Energon is useless to us now," Starscream sneered. "Wouldn't you say Ivy?" He looked down to the sixteen year old girl that stood by his heeled foot.

Lady Ivy Rose Tron was the perfect blend of the Decepticon Warlord, Megatron and his human mate, a Sith herself, Neve Thettaskiff. Her eyes being blood red, and her pupils a deep black, obviously inherited from her father, and she had long, wavy, jet black hair. The waves being her mother and the color her father. Ivy definitely shared her mother's physical appearance and carried some of her personality traits. Both were pale, and tall, with slimming figures that were pleasing to the eye. However she inherited her father's strength and ability to take control when needed. She trains to be a Sith, but also has special powers due to being a techno organic. Water, ice, super speed, fire, air, lightning, telepathy, and she could mimic voices.

Ivy picked at the chipped black nail polish that covered the tips of her nails with a small sigh. "Bring in the prisoner."

"Finally," Dooku said as two vehicons carried Cliffjumper in.

"Scream, Ives, Count been awhile. So, where's your Master?" Cliff asked as he coughed up Energon.

"Never you mind him, I am my own master," Starscream said as he stabbed Cliffjumper in the chest with his claws "Anymore questions?"

The only response he got was Cliffjumper's strangled moans of pain as the neon blue Energon slowly leaked from his body as death slowly pulled Cliffjumper away from his life and into its dark embrace. He fell to his knees before collapsing in front of the trio completely.

Ivy winced internally at the sight of the dead Autobot, and she silently scolded herself for seeming so weak as she gently placed a hand on Starscream's foot. The other two could care less about the mess it left behind.

"Clean it up," Starscream ordered.

With those words said, Cliffjumper's body was taken away and the Decepticon ship sped away. If it weren't for the destroyed Energon and the slight damage in the ditch where the battle had taken place, it looked as if nothing had ever happened place down there.

* * *

Soon after, one by one the Autobots, the Jedi, and the Clones jumped out of the ground bridge, guns and lightsabers drawn.

"An untapped Energon deposit," Optimus observed as they all deactivated their weapons.

"What's left of it," Bulkhead piped in.

"The first Decepticon activity in three years," Ratchet pointed out to his comrades.

"That we know of," Optimus retorted as his face guard was removed, "If the Decepticons are scouting for Energon, they may be preparing for his return."

"Ivy must be stepping up her game to impress her father," Alora commented as she looked around.

Optimus looked down at the padawan and sighed softly, almost silently, but not for the reasons one may think. "Indeed."

Padawan Alora Taline Thettaskiff Pri- no, that was not a name that she could carry yet, it would have to end with her mothers name. She and her siblings, Ark and Anika, Ark being the oldest, were the 'forbidden children' of the late Jedi Knight Nola Thettaskiff and, unfortunately, Count Dooku. Well, that statement was true for two of the children at least. Optimus was at least thankful that the children took after their mother, some in appearance but mostly in personality. Alora especially in both categories.

The middle sibling was slim (and seemingly flat chested due to the chest binder she'd tend to wear from time to time,) and pale with shoulder length auburn hair that almost looked orange which she had separated into sections with large teal beads. A beaded headpiece pulled her bangs out of ice blue and lavender swirled eyes. She wore a gold lined tan top with a brown flowing skirt where one side stopped mid thigh and the other cascaded to just over her knee. Holding the skirt in place were two overlapping maroon belts that usually held her two lightsabers. Tied around her upper arms were small gold ribbons, while her hand and lower arms were covered by fingerless brown gloves. As for her legs and feet, she wore maroon tights and brown boots. Of course she also wore her most prized possession. A gold, diamond shaped necklace that once belonged to her mother. 

Optimus had given it to her for her fifteenth birthday almost a year ago, and it was all of Nola she had left.

He shook his head and watched as Arcee and Bumblebee bounded down the rocks and to the bottom for a closer look. Arcee's observant lavender and blue optics immediately saw something she didn't wish to see. It was the horn Cliffjumper lost during his battle with the Decepticons. She gingerly picked it up, acting as if with one wrong move the horn would shatter. Immediately she locked optics with Optimus.

The last time something like this happened, Nola had died.

"Ratchet, can you track his position?" Optimus asked, fearing the answer would result in the same ending.

Ratchet opened the miniature computer in his wrists. He saw something that could give them hope. That hope soon vanishing, like a flame of a candle being blown out. The medic sighed internally as he realized he would have to deliver the bad news to Arcee. The poor thing had been through so much in her lifetime. However, he knew he had to tell. Besides, everyone else around him had the right to know about this too.

"Cliffjumper's life signal just went offline," Ratchet announced sadly.

Arcee froze. Alora's eyes darkened. Everyone was silent.

* * *

"Soundwave. What is it?" Starscream demanded impatiently as the silent Decepticon approached him and Dooku. Ivy had excused herself to the med-bay with the excuse that she felt unwell.

_"Like Jasper, Nevada's a party? We're alone wherever we travel on this rock Cliff."_

It was a snippet of the last conversation to ever occur between Arcee and Cliffjumper, and it immediately sparked some interest.

"The Princess Arcee," Starscream sneered.

"Why slay one Autobot while we still have the advantage of surprise?" Dooku suggested with a smirk.

* * *

"We must not allow our anger over the loss of Cliffjumper to impair our judgement. As of today, only we five Autobots remain on this Earth. We owe it to ourselves; to the memory of Cybertron; to any Autobots in any galaxy seeking safe harbor; to humankind."

On top of the Autobot/Jedi outpost, as the sun set behind them, they held Cliffjumper's memorial. Optimus delivered his usual words of wisdom. During this, Optimus unwillingly remembered when he had to give a similar speech at the funeral for Alora's mother. It was a rather painful memory he did not wish to bring up, but it came on its own bringing deep sorrow and feelings of loss to his spark. While Optimus continued his speech, everyone watched in silence as Arcee walked forward holding Cliffjumper's horn in her hands. Both teams felt deep sorrow for the loss, the Jedi going as far as to wear their robes with the hoods up despite the heat of the desert, and the clones had removed their helmets.

"And we owe it to the memory of our fallen comrade to survive," Optimus continued, watching Arcee place the horn on the ground before she turned to leave. "Arcee…"

"If Cliff's gone, standing around here sulking won't bring him back. So unless anyone minds, think I'll get back to protecting humankind," Arcee decided bitterly before walking away.

"Someone better make sure she's ok…" muttered Anakin Skywalker.

"I got it," Alora said, shedding the robe to reveal that she was now dressed head to toe in a black shirt and pants with her hair sprawled over her shoulders. She shoved it into Arks arms. The brunette scoffing in annoyance for one of his younger siblings.

Alora quickly ran inside to grab a bag to throw her lightsabers in and jogged up to Arcee with her helmet. "Arcee!"

Arcee looked back at her and gave a soft, sad smile before she transformed. "Hop on." And with that, the two of them rode off, leaving everyone to separate.

"Optimus, helping humans will result in more tragedy," Ratchet warned the leader once it was just him, Optimus, and Obi-Wan.

"Your opinion is noted," Optimus nodded before gazing worriedly at the retreating figures.

Obi-Wan pulled his hood down with a sigh. "Optimus, I promised Nola I would never say a thing to Alora, but you really do need to start explaining things to her. Like who you really are to her. There's going to be a day in the near future where Alora will develop abilities beyond my teaching capabilities. The child is going through things and will go through things that will require your support and attention. I can't be the only one to help her."

Optimus looked down at the Jedi Master. "Nola had good reasons to confide such a secret with you, Master Kenobi, so I promise to tell her when the time is right."

"I suggest you do it soon. For Alora's sake."

* * *

In the busy part of the small town known as Jasper, Nevada, a sixteen-year-old boy was working at a local fast food restaurant called KO Drive-In. He had slick black hair and blue eyes.

"Welcome to KO Drive-In where the every patty's a knockout. May I take your order?" Jack Darby drawled into the microphone in a very bored manner. This must have been the hundredth time he'd repeated the phrase that day.

_"Uh, two super combos, extra fries."_

"OK. Deus numerous deus. Anything else?" Jack asked as he prepared the orders.

_"Yeah. Some advice. How do I get an awesome job like yours?"_

Jack's left eyebrow twitched in annoyance. People these days really got on his nerves when they pulled crap like that. That was when Jack heard the annoying laughter through the speakers of his headset as he laid all the orders out.

"So that's two not-as-funny-as-we-think-we-are combos with a side of bite-me," Jack snapped angrily. He was half tempted to spit in their food.

The response of "What'd you say to me?" gave him some satisfaction in life.

"$5.59, _sir_ , at the window," Jack seethed through his teeth.

He heard the sound of the car pulling up. But they took the order, laughed at Jack and drove away with a screech of their tires.

"Hey! You have to pay for that!" Jack called after them helplessly before he heard the ding through his headset, signaling a new driver at the drive in.

"Welcome KO Drive-In where every patty's a knockout. May I take your order?" he sighed.

_"If you don't know my usual by now, I should come through that window and slap you with one of those patties,"_ came the teasing voice of Alora.

Jack couldn't help but grin as he punched in the order. "Okay, so that's a double-cheese burger, a small fry, and a sweet tea." he replied.

_"You never fail me, Jack,"_ she said. _"Meet me outside. I could use someone to talk to."_

Jack walked out with the bag of food to find Alora sitting in her usual spot. He immediately could tell something was wrong. She looked like someone had shot her dog...

"Hey 'Lora! Here's your food," he greeted as he sat across from her.

"Hi Jack. Thanks," Alora greeted.

"Are you ok?" Jack asked gently.

Alora glared harshly. "Do I look like I'm ok?" She snapped, making Jack flinch slightly.

"Well you know you can tell me anything, so hit me with your best shot," he said.

"I lost my family member, Cliffjumper," Alora explained.

"Oh, Alora I am so sorry, I mean first your mom, and now this," Jack's eyes softened in worry. The last time someone in Alora's family died, she and her siblings up and disappeared for four years. He didn't want that to happen again.

"It's fine, really," Alora assured. "It's different this time."

Arcee couldn't help but smile at the fact that Alora had a friend other than her team and the Autobots that really cared. That was until three very bright lights spotted Jack and Alora. "Uh, oh..."

Alora blinked through the brightness of the lights and stood up. "Uh, oh look at the time, so sorry but I'm late for, um, swimming!" She tried to lie, but the glare Jack gave her told her that he wasn't buying it.

"What's up with you Alora? First you disappear off of the face of the Earth for four years, and now that you're back you start ditching me! What's going on?" He asked, gripping her wrist to keep her from leaving. "Doesn't our friendship matter anymore? Or is this about your mother?"

Alora gasped softly. "My mother? You think this is about my mother?" She growled.

"What else could it be?" Jack questioned.

"Jack, I'd love to tell you, I really would, but I can't!" She tried to pull her hand away, but Jack held on tightly.

"Why not!"

"Because-"

"Come on Alora! The Decepticons are getting closer!" Arcee shouted, interrupting the two.

Jack blinked. "D-Did your motorcycle just talk?"

Alora stared at Arcee, her left eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "Just. Get. On."

Jack decided to drop all questions for the moment. She must have been in trouble to get angry so fast. So he climbed on behind her. Though, as he thought about it, he still needed an answer on the whole 'Oh look my best friends' motorcycle just talked' thing. He was about to ask again, that was, until those strange cars that were following them began to shoot. Jack didn't even realize they had been moving until they turned the corner and onto the main road.

"Hold on!" Arcee said, revving her engine and taking off down the road.

"Who said that!?" Jack said, completely freaking out now.

The Decepticons moved to the side intent on trapping them between one another, but then crashed into one another. When they parted, Arcee swerved past them and sped ahead of them. Alora glanced behind her and saw that the Decepticons were gaining speed.

_"Commander Starscream, target sighted with a human youth and the young Prime."_

_"Destroy them both!"_

_"And bring that wretched child to me!"_ Dooku demanded.

When Arcee had Jack and Alora safe in an alleyway, she finally stopped and let Jack off. Immediately, Alora knew that Jack was freaking out and demanding some answers.

"What. The. Hell…" he looked at her. "Alora! What the hell?!"

"Calm down and I'll tell you when this is over!" Alora sighed.

"What are you?" Jack demanded of the motorcycle.

"I don't exist. Tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down," Arcee threatened Jack, making the boy gulp.

Alora closed her eyes and frowned. "We need to go. Now!" She opened her eyes again, revealing the fierce eyes of someone who's seen some things, making Jack gulp again. "You, get out of here!" And so he did.

Arcee drove out of the alleyway with Alora still riding. When she saw the Decepticon cars approach her, she immediately noticed that one took off in the direction that Jack had taken off in previously. These two Decepticons weren't after just her and Alora. They were after anyone that could possibly be in association with either female.

Alora looked in the side mirrors and cursed in a language that was alien to Earth. "Arcee, we have to save him!"

"Scrap."

In the process of returning for Jack, she jumped over the oncoming car before turning the corner. In the alley, Jack was running, and silently wishing he ran with Alora after school, he'd immediately look into it after today. When he looked behind him, he saw a Decepticon car chasing him.

"I don't even know them!" He shouted in a vain attempt to get the drone to stop following him.

That was when Arcee drove over the car and sped up so she was directly next to Jack.

Alora looked at him and extended her hand, ready to pull him on behind her. "Hop on!"

Jack hesitated for a moment, but realizing that this was Alora, and how tired his legs were getting, he took her hand and hopped on behind her, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist securely.

As they drove on the highway, the Decepticons activated their guns and started shooting at them. Some shots whizzing past Jack's and Alora's heads.

"Why are those guys shooting at us?" Jack demanded.

"There's no us, kid. And they are no guys," Arcee retorted.

"Alora to anybody who's listening. Arcee and I are having a bit of an issue with Decepticons in Jasper. A native is involved. We need backup at our coordinates ASAP!" Alora spoke, confusing Jack who didn't know that her commlink was actually one of her earrings.

As soon as Alora called in the request for backup, Bumblebee joined them on the highway and rammed into the Decepticons. After skidding across the highway a little, Bumblebee regained control and immediately went to follow Arcee.

"Friend of yours?" Jack guessed.

"Family," Arcee said.

Bumblebee did what he could to keep the Decepticons away from the other three. However, he couldn't keep them away for long. One of them sped up until he was next to Bumblebee and rammed into him the same manner he did to them before.

* * *

Under the bridge in Jasper, Nevada, a young boy was racing his yellow Camero around by himself. The car completely resembled a certain black and yellow Autobot the sound just wasn't as throaty and the boy named Raf was the one making the noises. As he had fun with his remote control car, his phone rang, which he immediately answered.

"Hi, mama. Racing right up the street. OK. Just five more minutes?" Raf asked his mother before hanging up and resuming his race.

On the bridge above him, he had no idea of the chase that was going on between Autobots and Decepticons. But he was about to find out. Because Jack and Alora saw that they were approaching roadwork that closed the bridge. And Arcee showed no sign of stopping. Instead, she jumped over the guardrails and flew over the bridge. Both screamed and clung to both Arcee and each other. On her back wheel, Arcee landed on the hill and jumped again to land on the ground in front of Raf who dropped his remote control in amazement.

"Whoa!" Raf exclaimed.

"You have no idea," Jack retorted as he and Alora climbed off with limbs shaking.

Alora looked between both boys, and groaned as the Decepticon cars revved their engines at the edge of the road, and drove down. As they transformed, Alora instinctively got in front of the boys and withdrew her lightsabers from her bag.

"This ends here, 'Cons," Arcee proclaimed as she transformed, she glanced back at the three and nodded at Alora, who took the boys and ran.

That was when the fights started. The Decepticons were firing shots at Arcee as she ran towards them. She kicked one in the chest and knocked it to the ground before flipping and doing the same with the other. Jack and Raf were amazed, while Alora was completely in defense mode.

"What are they?" Raf asked.

"Talking cars that turn into robots…or the other way around," Jack sighed.

Raf looked at Alora a little worriedly, before glancing at her lightsabers. "Ally…?"

Alora relaxed and looked back at both boys with apologetic eyes. "There's so much about this universe that neither of you know about…"

"This! Is! For! Cliff!" Arcee shouted in between punches.

She soon realized that she was in trouble once she said those words. The Decepticon quickly recovered and shot at her. For the first few shots, she managed to backflip away from them, but the last one hit her square in the chest, making her practically fly back as she skidded across the area before stopping completely.

The teens immediately took notice, and Alora shouted in desperation. "Bee!"

Bumblebee immediately drove into the scene and transformed before he started to kick aft. However, he took a step back and there was a very loud crunching sound from beneath his foot. When he lifted his foot, he realized that he stepped on Raf's toy car and shattered it into a pieces.

Alora couldn't help but giggle at the helpless look he gave them as he beeped his apologies.

"No problem. Really," Raf reassured him. Bumblebee perked up at that… but got shot square in the chest immediately afterwards.

All three teens gaped at what just happened before Raf stepped forward. "Leave him alone!" He yelled, catching the attention of both Decepticons. They pointed their guns and started to walk over to the three.

"Bad call," Jack remarked as he knelt next to Raf.

Alora, on the other hand, shoved both of her weapons back into her bag and started to shove at both boys. "Get into the pipe! Pipe means safety! Let's go!"

One of the Decepticon was hot on their tails. Immediately, they ran into a storm drain and climbed in. As they ran, Alora glanced behind them and reached for her weapons yet again. Reaching inside for them was the robot's clawed hands. She stopped and activated both lightsabers, the bright blue lighting up the dark drain. If she had to chop a few fingers off of this Con she would.

Suddenly, the hand was sharply tugged away and the sounds of the Con being beaten to a pulp could be heard. Alora relaxed ever so slightly as Bumblebee came into view.

"Thank you," Raf thanked before Bumblebee beeped and walked away.

Alora turned and pushed them to keep going. "Take this all the way down and don't look back. You didn't see any of this." With that, Alora ran towards where Bee had once been and disappeared.

"What did we just see?" Raf asked as they ran in the opposite direction.

"No idea and I'm not sure I wanna find out," was Jack's answer.

The fight between Bumblebee, Arcee, Alora and the Decepticons continued. Poor Bumblebee took a hit to some rather sensitive parts and went down. As Arcee helped Bumblebee to his feet, the Decepticons slowly approached them ready for a kill. Bumblebee and Arcee were ready to fight. Suddenly, a familiar horn could be heard. The giant AV pickup transformed into Bulkhead.

"Who's ready to rumble?" Bulkhead asked as he stood ready to fight and the Decepticons took one look at each other and drove away.

"What took you?" Arcee demanded as Bumblebee slumped over, the pain of the hit finally getting to him.

"Traffic…" Was the answer she received.

* * *

"And the 'Cons would've been scrap metal if I wasn't distracted by the human," Arcee said to Optimus back at the base.

"Human?" Optimus repeated in surprise.

Bumblebee beeped and Alora nodded once.

"Two boys," Optimus sighed.

"I guess a second one caught us in action. I don't know. Was a little busy at the time," Arcee remarked

"I managed to get them to safety though," Alora spoke.

Optimus closed his eyes in thought for a brief moment before speaking again. "If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally will be a grave risk."

* * *

The next day at Jasper High.

Jack walked out the doors to find Alora sitting next to Miko, who appeared to be drawing.

Today Alora was wearing her hair in a ponytail. She had on a pink blouse with light pink polka dots. She wore deep blue skinny jeans, and pink ballet flats. Normally she wouldn't wear pink but she was feeling rather feminine today and chose the color out of her closet. Of course she also had her prized necklace, and an out of place blue and silver backpack. Her so called 'motorcycle' was parked nearby.

Jack tried not to look at her, but she caught his gaze.

"Hey Jack," Alora said as she waved at him.

Jack ignored her, he was a little mad at Alora for keeping secrets and lying straight to his face for two years. He looked past her and saw Raf standing under a tree, waving at him.

"Raf. Hey," Jack greeted as he walked up to him, "Look. Let's just keep this between us and forget it ever happened, OK?"

"So Jack, rude much?" Alora asked with an annoyed tone, this startled Jack, and Raf was trying hard not to laugh.

"Guys, look!" Raf gushed excitedly as Bumblebee approached them.

"Not again," Jack moaned as Bumblebee opened its door and beeped at them, "It… wants us to get in…"

"No, only me and Ally," Raf said.

"How do you know that?" Jack demanded.

"He said so," Raf shrugged.

"What?" Jack gasped.

"You get to meet my motorcycle," Alora said, still annoyed with him.

"I really don't think that-," Jack started.

"How's it going?" Raf asked as he and Alora climbed in.

"What? Wait! Stop!" Jack called as Bumblebee drove away. He snuck a glance back at Arcee, who was basically staring at him, but he sighed and began to walk away.

"Coolest… bike… ever," Miko practically squealed as she attempted to draw Arcee until she was interrupted by a phone call. She picked up her cell and analyzed the caller. "Host parents? Ignore."

She went to draw the bike again only to discover that it was gone. Mesmerized by the Arcee, she followed her. As Jack walked the alleyways, Arcee stopped in front of him.

"Whoa!" Jack yelled in surprise.

"Relax… Jack, is it? I just wanna talk to you," Arcee reassured him.

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" Jack said rather bitterly as he eyed her holoform.

Arcee's holoform had medium blue black hair that framed her face, and same colored eyes as Alora. She was dressed practically head to toe in the type of leather you'd see someone who raced motorcycles wear.

"Jack, there's a lot you don't understand," Arcee told him as she deactivated her holoform.

"No. No. I get it. The first part about Robot Fight Club is you don't talk about Robot Fight Club. What you need to understand is I don't want a whole bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around trying to get me killed!" Jack retorted as Arcee transformed behind him.

"It is your personal involvement is the reason why Optimus Prime and the Jedi have requested your presence," Arcee said.

"Optimus, who?" Jack questioned.

"You may be in danger because you are one of the few – one of the only – who have ever seen us," Arcee told him.

Jack stepped back and let that sink in for as long as he could, until a loud piercing "Dude! What are you waiting for? Go with!" entered the air.

The bot and the human boy both turned to look at where the voice had come from, only to see Miko standing excitedly at the corner.

"Scrap…"

* * *

Miko was having the time of her life on Arcee with Jack as they drove through the desert of Jasper, Nevada. Driving in front of them was Bumblebee with Raf riding inside in the back seat and Alora in the front passenger side.

"And why exactly are we taking her?" Jack demanded.

"Rules," Arcee answered.

"Hey. Wait! WHOA!" Jack shouted as they drove past a stop sign and towards the rocky mountain side.

The rocky face soon disappeared and the mechanic doors opened to reveal a secret tunnel of some kind. As soon as Bumblebee and Arcee were inside, the doors shut and the secret entrance was hidden. Miko gasped in excitement as they slowed down and entered the main room.

"Cool," Raf sighed dreamily as he admired the room before them.

"Whoa," Jack and Miko gasped as they faced more of the Autobots and Jedi.

Jack, Miko and Raf saw Ratchet, Ark, Anika, Rex, Cody, Obi-Wan, and Anakin at first.

Youngling Anika Tyra Thettaskiff was the youngest sibling out of the three and had blonde hair that she kept braided, blue eyes with hints of yellow, she was on the shorter side, and, unlike her sister who used a chest binder to hide this fact, was rather flat chested. She wore a purple tunic with grey leggings, black boots, a black belt that held her lightsaber, and grey gloves.

Padawan Ark Terrence Thettaskiff was the strong eldest brother out of the three with brown hair, blue eyes with hints of green. He was tall, and slightly muscular and wore green Jedi robes, and he had a scar that ran over his lips. That scar had a story behind it, nothing tragic, but still a story.

Ahsoka and Bulkhead walked in when Ratchet turned from the computers.

"I thought there were two," Ratchet recalled earlier conversations.

"Don't you know by now? Humans multiply," Arcee stated dryly.

"I'm Raf," Raf Introduced himself.

"I'm Miko," Miko piped in as she ran towards Bulkhead and Ahsoka, "Who are you?"

"Um, Bulkhead…"

"I'm Ahsoka!"

"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck! A monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?" Miko began asking at the speed of light, making Bulkhead a little dizzy.

Ahsoka laughed and dropped from her perch on the green Autobots should, landing perfectly on two feet. "I like her!"

Miko gaped with sparkling eyes, while Raf and Jack paled considerably at the sight of the Togruta jumping.

"If you guys are robots, who made you?" Raf questioned after he got over the shock.

"Puh-lease," Ratchet scoffed.

"So Jack, Miko, Raf let me introduce you to my 'family'." Alora said, "This is Ahsoka Tano my other best friend and partner, you know my siblings Ark and Anika, this is Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka's master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, my master and most trusted friend, Captain Rex and Commander Cody, this is Ratchet, Jack you know Arcee, Raf you know Bumblebee, that's Bulkhead, and then there's..."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake with loud, heavy footsteps. Jack, Miko and Raf were looking a little nervous. Before the three humans knew it, they were standing before the commander of the Autobot team, Optimus Prime. They looked at him in awe as Optimus bent down and allowed Alora to climb into his hand.

Alora smiled softly and looked up at the robotic leader. "Then there's Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, my guardian, and fatherly figure in my life," the fifteen year old said as Optimus brought her to his shoulder.

Hearing Alora call Optimus a 'fatherly figure' hurt him. The Autobots had been keeping a secret from her since she was born, but there never seemed to be a good time to tell her what it was.

"We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots," Optimus proclaimed.

Obi-Wan walked down the steps from the platform he had previously been standing on, deciding to take this moment to help explain. "While we are the Jedi Knights of the Republic. We being, Alora, myself, her siblings, Anakin and Ahsoka."

"Why are you here?" Jack asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons," Optimus answered.

"As well as the Separatist armada," Obi-Wan said.

"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night," Arcee reminded Jack and Raf.

"Ok, but why are _they_ here?" Jack questioned.

"A fair question, Jack," Optimus complimented as he knelt before the humans, putting Alora back down besides her master, "In part, the Decepticons are here because our planet is uninhabitable; ravaged by centuries of civil war."

"And we're here because we are currently fighting a war," Alora stated.

"Why were or are you fighting a war?" Raf questioned.

"Foremost, over the control of their world's supply of Energon, the lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. It all started long before you were even created. In the beginning, I fought alongside one I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way," Optimus explained.

"The Clone Wars, also known as the Clone War and the Great Clone War, was the name given to the major galactic conflict fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The war was named after the clone troopers utilized by the Republic against the battle droid forces of the Separatists. These armies, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Separatist Droid Army, were two of the largest ever pitted against each other in galactic history, and the fighting between them rapidly spread to countless inhabited worlds," Obi-Wan explained, "And we fear that Earth may be the next target since it would seem that the two enemies have joined forces." **(Thanks to Star Wars wiki for that quote.)**

"Is there gonna be a quiz?" Miko sighed, twirling her hair around her fingers.

"So what does Megatron or any of this have to do with us?" Jack demanded.

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic," Optimus answered.

Jack tried to wrap his head around it all, but one thing finally made sense to him as he turned to look at Alora. "That's why you disappeared? That's why there's all these secrets, and all of your scars…" He grabbed Alora and pulled her in for a tight hug, and gave a relieved laugh. "I thought you had been hurting yourself, but you were off fighting a war!"

Alora blinked in confusion and looked around. "Um, guys, I think we broke Jackson…"

"No, I think you broke Jackson," Ark said, crossing his arms.

* * *

"Those transmissions are emanating from deep space. I would hate to waste the Energon," Starscream sighed, "Unless you are absolutely certain."

Soundwave nodded his head to confirm it. That, yes, it was definitely a signal worth checking out. Soundwave's confirmation was enough for Ivy, as she was desperate to pass the role of leader onto someone else. It was nice for the first year, but eventually she realized it was something that at sixteen she was not ready for.

"Then lock on transmission coordinates and activate the space bridge," Ivy requested a little too quietly. She wanted her father to be proud of what she had been able to do in the past three years all alone. Well, alone meaning without a parent.

A Decepticon communications officer nodded obediently and typed in the transmission coordinates. Within moments, the space bridge was activated.

* * *

In deep space, what was known as a space bridge was activated. Flying out from the waves of green, blue, purple and white was an alien fighter jet that immediately transformed as soon as it was out. Large build. Angry red optics. A taste for vengeance. This, my dear reader, was the leader of the Decepticons. He was the father of Ivy, and husband of Neve, and he needs no real introduction.

"Decepticons…I have returned!" Megatron proclaimed menacingly.


	2. Chapter 2: Darkness Rising Part 2

**-Chapter 2: Darkness Rising Part 2-**

Deep within the caverns of a rather generous Decepticon Energon Mine, we find many Decepticon drones and some Battle Droids harvesting as much of the pretty blue crystals as they could get their hands on. Observing from panels up above said drones and droids were none other than Megatron, Ivy, and Starscream.

"Of all the Energon deposits we have located while you were away, Lord Megatron, this one, by far, is the most significant," Starscream boasted proudly to his master.

"The drones and droids have been mining without pause during your absence and have massed quite a stockpile, father," Ivy said, rather eager to please her father. "I found this one myself."

"You there! Fetch me a sample!" Starscream demanded of a nearby drone.

"Starscream! Now that I have returned, I shall issue the commands," Megatron proclaimed.

"Yes, of course father," Ivy said with a quick bow of her head.

Starscream looked at her with a raised optic ridge. Nerves seemed to roll off of Ivy in waves. When she became temporary leader when Megatron left she had been ecstatic to prove to her father that she could be the best option as heir to the Decepticons, of course, she was only thirteen at the time… Something changed now that Megatron had returned.

"Then as your greatful daughter, shall I ready the space bridge to bring forth the Decepticon Army you have surely gathered during your three years in space?" Ivy offered.

"My army will come, my daughter. But my time away has yielded a more…intriguing means of materialising them. The solidified form of the matter the Ancient Texts refer to as the Blood of Unicron," Megatron announced as he held up the flaming violet crystal for both Starscream and Ivy to see.

"Unicron the Destroyer?" The two gasped.

"But it is said that his blood is the anti-spark," Starscream added.

"Plucked from Cosmic Shores. Gaze upon Dark Energon," Megatron said.

"Legend tells that it holds the power to revive the dead," Ivy recalled.

"We require only a cadaver to be certain," Megatron nodded before turning to Starscream, "Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?"

If Starscream was capable of paling he most certainly would have. "That may not be necessary. If I may, Lord Megatron…"

He gestured to the body of the fallen Cliffjumper, as Decepticon drones brought him down on an electronic hovering stretcher. The stretcher was brought forth to the three, and Ivy suppressed a small gasp.

"You kept him?" She hissed from behind her gloved hand.

Starscream simply chuckled as he presented the dead Autobot. "Consider it a homecoming present."

* * *

Now we find ourselves in a desert near Jasper, Nevada, where Autobot/Jedi Outpost Omega One was hidden to the average human eye.

"And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons know of yours," Optimus explained to Jack, Miko and Raf.

"Which means you can also assume that the Separatists know about you too," Anakin shrugged.

"Got it. If we spot anything strange, call 911," Jack summarized.

"If only it were that simple, kid," Rex said.

"Can we go now?" Jack asked.

"Are you insane? I'm living a dream here in Botswana! And I'm not gonna allow you or anyone else to shatter it!" Miko glared.

"It is best that you three remain under our watch. At least, until we can determine our enemy's intentions," Optimus interrupted the little stare off between Jack and Miko.

"Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere," Ratchet warned Optimus.

"Children?" Jack whispered in slight offense.

"They have no protective shell and if they go underfoot, they will go... Squish," Ratchet lifted his foot and stepped forward as if to make a point.

"Simple, Ratchet, we must watch where we step, as we've been doing for years now," Optimus said just before alarms started to go off.

"What's that?" Jack nervously asked.

"Proximity sensor. Someone's up top," Cody replied as he crossed his arms.

"It's Agent Fowler," Ratchet announced as he checked the security screens.

Ahsoka made a sound that was similar to a snort. "Here we go again."

"I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys," Jack frowned.

"Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. And he tends to visit when there are…issues, it may be best if you do not meet him at this time," Optimus advised, earning a nod in agreement from Obi-Wan.

Ark and Anika helped Jack, Miko, and Raf find a suitable hiding place just before the elevator doors opened to reveal a very angry looking Special Agent William Fowler.

"7 wrecks. 34 fender-benders. A 3-hour traffic jam. And a particular note: numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make," Fowler began listing his complaints as he walked further into the base. A few members of Team Jedi stepped out of his way as he made a beeline for Optimus.

"Whoops…" Arcee muttered.

"And a black and yellow custom muscle car also speeding. So anything you'd like to get off your tin chest, Prime?" Fowler demanded.

"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler," Anakin tried to reassure the agent.

"They're back, aren't there?" Fowler questioned in realization.

"If you're referring to the Decepticons, we have doubts they ever left. Earth is much too valuable," Optimus answered.

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon," Fowler proclaimed.

"Hear me, Agent Fowler. We are the best – possibly, your only – defence against the Decepticon Threat," Optimus retorted.

"Says you," Fowler shot back.

"Hey, fleshy! Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force. And how much to use," Bulkhead interrupted as he grabbed one of Ratchet's tools, ripped it off the console and crushed it, much to Ratchet's annoyance.

"BULKHEAD! I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet shouted.

"Enough!" Optimus snapped before turning his attention to Fowler, "Military involvement will result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. We, however, cannot."

"Then do us all a favor and handle this, Prime. _under_ the radar," Fowler requested before leaving, "Or I will."

"Pretty big bearings for a human," Bulkhead remarked.

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead. As he should be," Optimus told him.

* * *

"Let us see if power born of darkness can reignite the spark," Megatron proclaimed before plunging the shard of Dark Energon into Cliffjumpers chest.

Starscream and Ivy slowly backed away as they saw the shard shine brightly and slowly disappear into Cliffjumper's chest as his spark was reignited. They watched in slight horror as his circuits began to glow a bright purple color, his optics turning from blue to violet, and instead of words he hissed like a zombie from the Walking Dead. With his newfound strength, Cliffjumper broke free of the holds pinning him to the stretcher. The Decepticons nearby activated their guns, ready to shoot the zombie Autobot in the case of him attempting an escape while the battle droids ran away screaming. Cliffjumper did escape, and he tackled one drone to the ground and started beating the life out of him. Ivy couldn't help but be terrified of Cliffjumper not that she would admit it in front of her father. Megatron watched on pleased with the results of the Resurrection caused by the Dark Energon.

"That's your plan? Bring Autobots back from the dead to attack us?" Starscream screeched.

Ivy trembled slightly as she back up until her back hit her father's leg. "F-Father, are you absolutely certain about this?"

Megatron bent down and picked his daughter up. "That is no longer an Autobot. Just a mindless beast. It's only instinct is to destroy anything in its path."

Suddenly the zombiebot that was Cliffjumper charged at Megatron and his daughter. Ivy let out a little yell as she launched her lighting at him out of panic. It held him back for a few moments until Megatron cut him in half.

"See, Starscream? Rise the indestructible seed of my army. The ultimate weapon," Megatron proclaimed as he kicked Cliffjumper back down towards the mine, "Once we learn to control it."

Ivy took a moment took control herself. "My apologies, I let my guard down…"

Megatron looked back at his daughter. "You're young and will learn better with more time and practice." He looked around. "As I've seen, the ship is still in one piece and you've collected the most Energon we've been able to find. You've done well, Ivy, there was no reason to be nervous."

Ivy's red eyes widened in shock. "You knew about that!?"

"Soundwave sees and hears everything."

* * *

Ratchet watched the screen before him in confusion and frustration. What he saw couldn't even be possible in the slightest.

"Blasted Earth tech!" Ratchet cursed, catching everyone's attention. "Cliffjumper's life signal popped back online!"

"Who's Cliffjumper?" Miko asked.

"He was an Autobot, earlier yesterday he was out patrolling for Energon when he was ambushed by the Decepticons, we can only assume the worst happened as his life signal went offline…" Ark explained with a glance at Arcee. While the Jedi weren't allowed to form connections such as family or loved ones, the Autobots were free to do as they please, and losing a fellow Autobot left the others with heavy emotions.

Jack blinked and turned to Alora. "Wait a minute, is that who you were talking about yesterday?"

Alora nodded silently as she stared at the screen displaying Cliffjumper"s signal. Something didn't seem right...

"How is this possible?" Optimus asked.

"It isn't. Another bug. The system's chock full of them," Ratchet grumbled.

"If there's any chance Cliff's alive," Ahsoka trailed off.

"Ratchet, prepare sick bay. We may need it," Optimus remarked as he came to a decision.

"Anyway we can help?" Anika asked.

"Yeah, let us be a distraction or something!" Ahsoka said.

Obi-Wan and Anakin both shook their heads with small smirks. The Padawans always seemed to be itching for a chance to jump into action, whether it was against the Separatists or the Decepticons.

"Perhaps we should sit this one out, young one, we wouldn't want to leave our guests alone and confused," Obi-Wan said, placing his hand on Anika's shoulder.

Anika thought about it before giving a nod. "Yes, I understand, of course Master Kenobi."

"Hey! What can we do?" Miko asked.

"Remain with Ratchet and the Jedi," was the answer that came from Optimus.

"Aw…," both Miko and Ratchet moaned in disappointment as the GroundBridge was activated.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus instructed as they transformed into their vehicle modes and they rolled out into the GroundBridge.

"What just happened?" Jack asked worriedly.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the GroundBridge," Ratchet answered.

"What's a GroundBridge?" Raf questioned.

"A scaled-down version of Space Bridge Technology," Ratchet explained with an annoyed sigh before continuing. "Since we don't possess the means or Energon required for intergalactic travel."

"We'd help, but we don't have ships available to carry the 'Bot's out of here," Ahsoka said.

"You're stuck here on Earth…" Jack said.

"With the likes of you, yes. But I constructed the GroundBridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet," Ratchet explained proudly.

"Does it work for humans?" Raf asked in complete fascination.

"Naturally," Ratchet nodded.

"You mean we could just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko questioned.

"Within moments. In fact, allow me to send you there immediately. All three of you," Ratchet offered with some hope.

"Watch it, Ratchet," Anika warned.

* * *

The GroundBridge arrived in the Decepticon Energon Mine and coming out of it were Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. Immediately, they transformed and activated their guns in case they were attacked by Decepticons upon arrival. However, that's not the case, as the droids and drones were too distracted by the mining process to register that the Autobots were nearby.

"Energon mine," Bulkhead observed.

"Judging by its scale the Decepticons have been tunnelling here for some time," Optimus stated.

There was piles of rock nearby that made for a perfect hiding place. Upon quickly running behind them, each Autobot took a moment to observe their surroundings. Groups of drones and droids drilled away at crystals before sending them up and elevator like shaft to be stored in the warship. This could be simple or go very wrong. Hopefully it would be simple.

"Let's find Cliffjumper," Optimus proclaimed as they readied to fire.

At once, they all approached the Decepticon drones and Separatist droids. As soon as they did, a fire fight began. One Decepticon drove its drill in the Autobots direction until it got smashed in by Bulkhead and his wrecking ball. As they fired shots, they advanced, punting a few droids across the mine in the process. The desperation to find Cliffjumper before the Decepticons did something truly terrible to their friend pushed them to continue. To fight. To prove that the sensors back at home weren't lying to them, and that Cliffjumper was alive and well.

* * *

"What is this, anyway?" Miko asked as she went to touch a piece of machinery.

"Broken. Don't touch," was Ratchet's short reply, "Don't touch that either!" He wasn't even looking at them, how would he have known what she was going to touch?

"Is there anything in here we _can_ touch?" Jack questioned.

"How come you're using human computers?" Raf asked as one of the computers went into system overload.

"It certainly isn't by choice. It was handed down from the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. Ratchet and I make changes as we see fit," Anakin explained before even more computers went into system overload, earning an eye roll and a groan.

"I think I can fix that," Raf said, and went to plug his laptop into the control console.

"Really? You know this is complex technology, don't you? I mean, it isn't a child's toy," Ratchet laughed as Raf typed in some commands.

"Now try," Raf invited once he was finished.

Ratchet stared at the screens in shock as all the computers went back to normal. It was as if the system overload never happened, and, with a quick check from Anakin, all the files and data were still intact.

Ark chuckled. "Now _that's_ talent!"

* * *

The first wave of enemies were nothing but piles of scrap metal when the Autobots were finished with them, but this was only the beginning. There was still the main parts of the mine to take care of.

Each Autobot transformed and began to drive as fast as they needed to make it over. Once in the next chamber they tried to take cover behind stacks of boxes.

Bulkhead whistled as he observed this portion of the mine. "Quite the operation."

However someone must have heard because almost immediately the fire fight began again.

* * *

"Blood of Unicron, how might I fathom the depths of your mystery? Become worthy of wielding your astonishing power?" Megatron asked the massive, glowing crystals of Dark Energon.

 _"Lord Megatron, intruders have been detected in the mines."  
_  
"Optimus?" Megatron asked hopefully.

" _Indeed."_

Ivy took this moment to put on a brace face and step forward. "Father, please, allow me to take care of this." The moment of weakness she had displayed in front of the warlord ate at her the more she thought about it. She needed, no, _wanted_ to prove to her father that she was capable of handling these types of situations.

"Patience, Ivy. I need more time to prepare an appropriate reception for my old friend. Ready the ship for departure," Megatron instructed.

"But the Energon I've mined! The Autobots will seize it!"

"Then blow the mines!" Megatron snapped, making the sixteen year old girl flinch ever so slightly.

"Yes, father…," she said softly.

Megatron closed his optics and sighed. "Ivy. You have nothing to prove. I know how capable you are. No average child your age would have been able to run things the way you have these past few years. Now knock it off, and prepare for departure."

Ivy blinked in shock. She was almost certain that that was the most fatherly thing he had ever said to her. She shook her head clear and bowed. "Yes, father!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the fire fight was still going on, and throughout it each Autobot took special care to look for Cliffjumper until…

"It's Cliff. I have a visual," Arcee announced upon spotting the fallen Autobot.

"We'll cover you," Optimus reassured his close friend.

With a bit of driving and some fancy acrobatic skills, Arcee made her way to Cliffjumper only to find that Cliffjumper was no longer Cliffjumper.

Only the top part of his body remained. Surrounding the ground around him was a strange purple liquid, Dark Energon. Not that Arcee knew that at the time.

Suddenly, the enemy turned their fire on her making rocks fall on top of her. While she was trying to avoid the rocks, she suddenly noticed that the platforms were shaking and coming loose. One of them fell away, and Cliffjumper just so happened to be on it.

"Cliff!" She shouted as she dove for him, managing to grab his hand in time.

Optimus and the other Autobots continued providing her cover. However, even more rocks began crumbling down around them. The place was coming down, and evacuation needed to happen as soon as possible.

"Let's get you home, partner," Arcee said to him.

That was when Cliffjumper began growling and hissing at the two wheeler causing her to gasp in shock as she struggled to hold on to the zombiebot. Cliffjumper wriggled himself out of her grasp and plummeted down to the mines below. Optimus could only watch in vein as Cliffjumper fell into the caverns.

"Prime," Starscream rasped, drawing the Prime's attention to him and Ivy.

"Love to stick around. But… What can I say? I'm squeamish," Ivy remarked as she motioned for Starscream to drop the bomb. With the bomb activated, Starscream let it drop with a grin.

Once the bomb left his hand, he and Ivy jumped with practiced ease. He transformed as she landed in the cockpit, and they flew back to the ship above.

The bomb landed and began to violently beep.

Bulkhead's optics widened. "The joints gonna blow!" He yelled.

"Roll out!"

Immediately, everyone transformed and drove away as fast as they possibly could. Behind them, the bomb detonated, blowing up everything in its wake. The exploding Energon followed them as they drove, swallowing everything it came in contact with in plumes of blue fire.

"Ratchet! Bridge us back! Use the arrival coordinates, now!" Optimus ordered.

Before them the GroundBridge sprang to life, allowing the Autobots to return home, but also allowing the flames of the explosion to follow through.

* * *

Ratchet and the others turned to face the GroundBridge as they heard the explosions and the sound of the bots arriving. Once Optimus was out, Ratchet closed the GroundBridge, preventing the explosion to follow them in any further. Optimus transformed and backflipped away before landing at a stop.

"Whoa…" the three earthlings gasped.

"Cutting it kinda close. How about Cliffjumper?" Alora asked looking around.

The Autobots hung their heads in sadness, while Ratchet gave a quick shake of his head, having known it wouldn't end well.

Alora sighed. "I thought so…"

"What was that explosion? Can I come with next time?" Miko immediately began asking excitedly.

"Look," Arcee growled.

"Hey, hey, Miko. Let's go see what the teams hide in their sock drawers," Jack suggested as he guided Miko away.

"Seriously?" was all Miko asked.

"Arcee… What did you see?" Optimus gently asked his Second in Command.

"Not Cliff… At least not anymore," she began. "He was mutated. Butchered like something from those 'Con experiments during the war."

A wave of dizziness washed over Arcee, causing her to lose balance and fall over.

Bumblebee beeped in worry for his older sister as he stepped forward to help her up.

"I'm fine, Bee. Just dizzy," she said, waving him off and propping herself up on a box.

"Robots who get dizzy," Miko gasped.

"Robots with emotion," Raf added.

"Robots who can die," Jack realized.

Ratchet did a scan on Arcee. On her hand, the blue beam of light from the scanner turned red. Upon closer look, he noticed a strange purple liquid.

"What is this?" Ratchet asked out loud.

"Don't know. Cliff was covered in it. Leaking it," Arcee said, holding her head with her free hand.

Ratchet frowned and scraped a sample off of her hand. "Go take a decontamination bath. Now."

Bumblebee helped her up and Ratchet guided them both over to the med-bay.

"Optimus, I hate to bug. But…no bars," Jack held up his phone to prove a point once he caught the Autobot leaders attention.

"A security precaution. The silo walls isolate all radio waves," Cody explained to Jack.

"Well, if I don't call my mom, like _now_ , I'm pretty sure the cops will come looking for me," Jack said, scratching the back of his neck.

Optimus narrowed his optics ever so slightly. "Have you broken the law?" He already lost Alora to a bad crowd once, he didn't need her falling into the hands of one again.

"Uh, curfew. It's after 10pm," Jack corrected.

"I'd better get home too. Or I'll be grounded for a year," Raf added.

Anika hummed. "I forgot that existed."

Ark nodded. "If you're under eighteen and out past curfew, _and_ you get caught by the cops you're in big trouble."

"Earth customs. I hadn't considered," Optimus said, noting that little fact for later. "But the issue of your safety remains. Bulkhead, accompany Miko home."

Obi-Wan put a hand on Ark's shoulder. "Perhaps you should accompany them."

Ark nodded in agreement. "Of course."

"Awesome! My host parents will freak!" Miko squealed.

"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form," Optimus added.

"Curbside duty. Got it," Bulkhead nodded, earning a moan of disappointment from Miko.

"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf," Optimus proclaimed.

"I'll go with!" Anika started, but then turned to look at the others, "If that's alright with you, of course."

"By all means," Anakin chuckled.

Anika smiled in thanks before fist bumping Bumblebee causing Raf to laugh softly.

Optimus watched the display before turning to the teams medic. "Ratchet-"

"Busy!" He called from the med-bay as Arcee walked out from her bath.

"Arcee, you'll accompany Jack," Optimus decided.

"Still dizzy," Arcee informed Optimus.

"You're fine, says your physician," Ratchet cut in, making Arcee sigh.

* * *

It was decided that Alora would accompany Arcee and Jack back to his home. After a quick ride the trio found themselves driving up the driveway and into the garage. Once Arcee was parked the two teens got off.

"Arcee, I'm really sorry for your loss," Jack said tentatively.

"What could you possibly know about loss?" Arcee replied coldly.

"What? You think you're the only one with problems?" Jack retorted, causing Arcee to transform and glare at Jack rather harshly.

Alora looked between the two before sitting on the couch in the garage. While yes she was training to be a peace keeper, she knew that there were matters that one should not get involved in. This was one of those matters.

"I'm not sure girl trouble counts," Arcee hissed.

"I'm pretty sure my girl trouble started the night I met you!" Jack practically shouted before they all saw another car roll up onto the driveway.

"'Cons!" Arcee gasped as she activated her guns.

"No! Mom!" Jack said waving his arms before he ran out to distract his mother.

Alora immediately stood and tapped Arcee's leg, causing the Autobot to look at her.

"Um, Autobots _transform_ and roll out?" The padawan hinted. Arcee got it and did so before anyone else could notice.

"Jack? Alora?" Nurse June Darby said as she climbed out of the car.

"Mom! Don't freak! I can explain!" Jack promised his mother.

"Can you?" June asked before approaching the motorcycle and pointing angrily at it, "Jackson Darby, we talked about this."

"I know. And-."

"You don't know!" June cut off her son, "I worry about you enough when you're not here. Now I have to worry about you driving a motorcycle?"

"I'm sixteen! I can't be driving a ten-speed forever!" Jack argued.

"How did you afford this?" June demanded.

Alora took this moment to make herself part of the conversation. "I got it for him!"

"You did?" Questioned June.

"Yeah! There's a mechanics shop I work at and they fix up all sorts of old vehicles. I found this one, fixed her up and gave her to Jack," Alora lied, rather convincingly at that.

"The point is I may have been a kid when I bought this," Jack said as he gestured to a helmet sitting on an old desk nearby, "But I'm not anymore. You always tell me to make responsible choices. Well, I chose her. And I'll be responsible. I promise"

"Her?" June repeated teasingly, "I didn't think you'd be bringing girls other than Alora home just yet."

"I'd like to think she brought me," Jack corrected sheepishly.

"Well, I'm glad you finally have a reason to wear your helmet. _Every single time_ you ride," June said before kissing Jack on the forehead. "You will take _me_ for a spin sometime, right?"

"We'll see. She's kinda tempramental," Jack said loud enough for Arcee to hear as he turned out the lights and shut the garage as the three walked inside.

June suddenly gasped and looked at the two teens once they were inside. "Alora, do you need a ride home?"

"Oh no, that's alright, I can just call my brother and have him pick me up!" Alora smiled. "He's always willing to drive Ana and I."

"Aw," June smiled. "He's such a good older brother."

Alora laughed. "You don't know the half of it."

With all that being said, Alora sent Ark a quick text and fifteen minutes later Bulkhead pulled into the driveway.

Ark got out and rang the doorbell. June answered the door, gushed over how tall he had gotten and invited him inside.

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that Ark and Alora managed to convince June that it was late and that they needed to get home.

* * *

The next morning, Jack was awakened by the sound of Arcee revving her engine in the garage. Afraid that it would wake June up, Jack raced to the garage to shut her roaring engine up.

"Are you crazy? You'll wake my mom!" Jack whisper-yelled to Arcee.

"Grab your helmet. It's go time," Arcee announced.

"Are you kidding? It's Saturday!" Jack moaned.

"You can watch cartoons back at base with Bumblebee," Arcee said to him.

"Cartoons? I'm sixteen," Jack grumbled as he left.

"Make sure you leave a note for your mom! She worries!" Arcee called after him.

* * *

Not a lot of things made Ivy nervous, which may seem surprising at this point in our story, but one thing was for sure. The way her father stared at the Dark Energon crystals before them made her extremely nervous. Before it was his judgement on her that made her this nervous, to the point of where she had a panic attack in the med-bay when it was announced that he would return in fear that she had not done a worthy enough job to still be considered his heir. But _this_ , this was probably worse, and everything else was probably just the worries of a teenager… Right?

"I don't think you need to worry about further Autobot interference, Master. Not with Optimus gone," Starscream reassured his master.

"And what evidence do you present of this fact?" Megatron asked.

"Starscream and I destroyed the mines as you instructed," Ivy answered as she played with her hands behind her back.

Starscream noticed her nervous tick, but did not dare to point it out. Just because she was nervous now did not mean she was like this all the time. In fact, the Decepticon heir could be as wrathful and unforgiving as her father at times.

"Optimus is not so easily destroyed. He and I have millenia worth of battles behind us to prove it, my daughter," Megatron retorted.

"Maybe you should take a break, my lord," Starscream suggested in an attempt to calm Ivy's nerves in some way, "I fear too much contact with the Dark Energon might allow its properties to adversely affect you."

"Or perhaps, Starscream, I have not permitted myself contact enough," Megatron pondered as he ripped a shard from the mound of glowing crystals.

"Wait! Father, no! Not your spark chamber! You do not know what it will do!" Ivy begged, nerves suddenly at an all time high. She could feel another panic attack coming on. Poor thing needed a vacation.

But her pleadings fell on deaf audio sensors. Megatron plunged the shard of Dark Energon into his own spark chamber. Starscream and Ivy could only stand back and watch in horror as the Blood of Unicron began overtaking the Decepticon Warlord.

* * *

Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet and Obi-Wan were analyzing the components of the purple substance Ratchet had scraped off of Arcee when it started to have an ill effect on her.

"Hmm…the base elements of this goo are like nothing I've ever encountered. It must be extremely concentrated to have affected Arcee so rapidly. Unfortunately, complete results are slow-coming without the use of proper diagnostic tools. Thank you very much, Bulkhead," Ratchet grumbled as he removed the slide from the microscope.

As he did, he unknowingly spilt some of the substance onto the diagnostic tool that Bulkhead broke when Agent Fowler was here. It burnt its way into the wiring of the machinery and glowed a bright purple for a brief moment before groaning and standing on its newly-acquired legs. But neither Ratchet or Obi-Wan seemed to notice. With its only instinct to destroy, the machinery approached the nearest objects to destroy. Which just so happened to be the medic and the Jedi Master…


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness Rising Part 3

**-Chapter 3: Darkness Rising Part 3-**

On the dusty roads in front of where Autobot/Jedi Outpost Omega One remained hidden were Jack and the Autobot second-in-command, Arcee.

"Tighten your grip, Jack," Arcee warned.

Jack couldn't help but yelp in surprise as Arcee suddenly took off speeding down the road. He found himself glad that he had his helmet on as the female Autobot popped a wheelie.

"Hey! What's with you, Arcee?" Jack asked.

"Thought you might actually enjoy the ride without getting shot at," Arcee smirked.

"Oh, bring it!" Jack grinned as they sped along the stretch of road.

* * *

Not too far from the first Autobot/Human pairing we find ourselves with another group perched at the top of a rocky hill. This group being Bulkhead, Ark, Ahsoka and Miko.

"Ready? Set?" Miko urged, trying to get Bulkhead to drive down the hill as fast as possible just so she could get an adrenaline rush.

"Miko, we're supposed to be protecting you," Bulkhead reminded her nervously. It was only natural for him not to want anything to happen to his organic friends.

"Bulkhead, we're strapped inside ten tons of metal muscle! We're protected," Miko assured.

Ahsoka laughed. "I like her!"

Bulkhead grumbled quietly in protest.

"I mean… Miko's not wrong Bulk," Ark said, "We'd be totally fine."

Bulkhead sighed and decided to just go for it. Shifting the gear to drive, Bulkhead sped down the hill, enjoying the sounds of delighted screams coming from his friends.

* * *

While all of this was happening, Bumblebee, Raf, Anika and Alora sat parked within their own part of the desserts of Jasper. Bee, Raf, and Anika were all head to head in a racing game that Bumblebee had downloaded. Alora on the other hand took this moment to meditate to some soothing sounds through her earbuds.

"No fair, Bumblebee! You've been driving a lot longer than I have!" Raf laughed after Bumblebee had beaten both him and Anika at the race.

All three paused as the air within Bumblebee's vehicle mode became heavy, and a soft groan came from Alora.

"Ally?" Raf asked turning his attention to her.

Anika's eyes showed her worry when her older sister didn't answer.

For the next few minutes the other three called her name in hopes of pulling her out of it. Anika going as far as to rip the earbuds out of Alora's ear, but Alora was too deep into her meditation to let it bother her.

Alora could only watch as images passed through her mind. Memories and perhaps visions?

Some of these memories weren't even hers. She knew that a small part of them were Aloria's, the techno-organic Jedi Queen of Iacon that Alora just so happened to be the reincarnation of. It was easy to tell by the images of Cybertron, the memory of Aloria bonding to Soundwave, the birth of their first child, the adoptions, the war and so on. However the memories that were hers, or at least she thought they were, confused her.

_In one memory, she was a little girl again, playing with her siblings, but it was almost as if there were one too many._

_She was sitting by with Anika while Ark chased another girl that was an almost mirror image of herself._

_The mystery sibling squealed and laughed when their older brother had caught her._

_"Alora, help me!" She squealed._

The images shifted to that of her mother, Nola Thettaskiff, or more specifically to the last time she saw her mother. As it played out, all Alora wanted to do was scream at her mother in hopes of getting her to turn around and stay where she was, to keep her from going on the mission that she would never return alive from.

_Nola turned and smiled at each one of her children before stopping at her. "Alora…"_

Her name echoed around her head as she remembered being torn away from the Autobots and the former Jedi team that came before hers by Count Dooku and Neve Thettaskiff.

_"Alora!" Optimus shouted, attempting to reach out for her before… before…_

It was dark after that, she couldn't remember what happened clearly, but all she knew was that is was the night that her life changed forever.

_"Alora!" The squealing of her mystery sister._

_"Alora." A greeting with a nod from Optimus._

_"Alora…" The smile from Nola._

"Alora!" A shout from Bumblebee. Wait.

A shout. From Bumblebee? That couldn't be possible unless…

"Alora!"

The padawans eyes shot open to reveal Bumblebee's holoform shaking her out of meditation, worry evident in his bright blue eyes. The shout made sense now, seeing as Bumblebee's holoform was somehow still capable of speech.

She shook her head, and waved him off gently. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry."

Bumblebee let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, Obi-Wan wasn't kidding when he said that you get deep into your meditations."

"You got that right," Anika added.

Raf's worry melted as well once Alora sent a reassuring smile his way. He was about to sit back and ask if playing a round of the game would make her feel better when he noticed Bumblebee. "Whoa!"

Bumblebee's holoform looked very Human like with his hair, eyes, and clothes. Pieces of blond hair fell into blue eyes as the Autobot scout smiled and waved at him. "Convincing right? It helps us blend in with the humans easier. And I can talk!"

"So all of you have one?" The Human boy asked.

"Yep!"

The twelve year old's eyes sparkled at this new discovery, causing the other three to laugh.

* * *

"Thank goodness for peace and quiet. House guests can be such a bother," Ratchet grumbled as he and Obi-Wan continued their work on the mysterious purple liquid. "Aside from the Jedi of course."

Obi-Wan waved him off with a soft chuckle. "I understand."

They both paused and turned at the sound of rattling nearby. It got louder as the sound got closer making Ratchet a little nervous.

"Optimus?" Ratchet asked before noticing the possessed machinery rapidly approaching them at quick speeds, "By the AllSpark!"

The machine jumped at Ratchet and began to attack. The medic managed to block each attack as they came. There was a metal bar nearby that Obi-Wan threw to Ratchet by way of the Force. Ratchet caught the bar and took continuously swings at it while Obi-Wan made his own attempts with his lightsaber. The machine eventually reached the microscope Ratchet was using before and sliced it in two.

Ratchet gasped and glared at it. "I needed that!" He shouted.

The machine went to attack again and Obi-Wan moved to deflect it when a blaster shot came out of nowhere and destroyed the possessed machine. The two looked to where the blast had come from only to find Optimus disarming his weapon.

"And stay dead," Ratchet said, pointing at the dead machine.

"Now what could have caused _that?_ " Obi-Wan asked as he put his lightsaber away.

"I have a grave suspicion… Dark Energon," Optimus answered gravely.

* * *

Back on the Nemesis, Ivy stared in slight horror as her father stood before the glowing Dark Energon. He wasn't moving, and he didn't make a sound.

"Father?" Ivy stuttered nervously.

"It's as if the Blood of Unicron the Destroyer flows through my veins. As if I hear his very thoughts. I now know what I must do," Megatron proclaimed as he ripped another shard.

"And what can we do to assist you, master?" Starscream asked hopefully.

"Quit groveling and await my command," Megatron growled before he began walking away. Once outside, he transformed and flew off to who knows where.

In the control room, Starscream, Ivy and Soundwave watched Megatron as he retreated into the clouds.

"Soundwave…" Ivy started as she looked up at the silent mech.

"I fear that when our master reached for the stars, he came down with a touch of space madness. Lord Megatron has not been of sound judgement since his return. Increase global surveillance," Starscream instructed him, cutting Ivy off.

_"Quit groveling and await my command."_

"We're not deaf! But if Optimus Prime lives, I believe it is in the best interest of my father that we ensure our enemy's destruction," Ivy pointed out.

* * *

"If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought your broken equipment to life, it would stand to reason that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead," Optimus said as he, Obi-Wan and Ratchet disposed of the shattered machinery.

"That would account for his life signal inexplicitly coming back online. But Dark Energon? It's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent! What would it be doing on Earth?" Ratchet pondered.

"It was transported by Megatron," Optimus realized.

"For what purpose?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"To conquer this planet by raising an army of the undead," Optimus answered gravely.

"Well, Megatron would need to break quite a few toaster ovens. I mean, where on this world would he find that many Cybertronian dead?" Ratchet laughed.

The three were interrupted by the sounds of roaring engines as the Autobots drove into the command center with their organic friends and the elevator doors opening to reveal Anakin, Rex, and Cody.

The children all looked happy in some way, all except Alora. She looked troubled. Very troubled. Seeing this made both Optimus and Obi-Wan rather concerned. They both made a silent agreement to check on her later.

"That was awesome!" Jack exclaimed as the Autobots transformed.

"Can we go again?" Raff asked Bumblebee excitedly.

"Sweet!" Miko squealed excitedly.

There was a clang within Bulkhead's chest plates, making the Autobot blink. "Um," he said as he pulled out a guitar case making Miko gasp.

"Sorry! Must have left that in the backseat," Miko apologized sheepishly, taking her guitar from him.

"Autobots, prepare to…," Optimus trailed off upon noticing their new human friends.

"Roll out?" Arcee suggested.

"Remain here. Ratchet, you'll come with me. Arcee, we'll be outside communication range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge of our team," Optimus decided.

"Dude, you're biggest. You should be the boss," Miko said to Bulkhead.

"He never picks me," Bulkhead said.

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing. Babysitting is another. When Nola was around it was one thing, but," Arcee trailed off.

" _Hey!_ " Jack exclaimed slightly offended.

"Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war," Arcee whispered.

"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!" Ratchet remarked from his spot at a computer.

"For the moment, it's only reconnaissance," Optimus reassured his second-in-command and close friend.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee raised an optic ridge.

"Arcee, much has changed within the last 24 hours. And we all need to adapt. Ratchet, bridge us out," Optimus instructed.

Ratchet opened the bridge and the two left in the blink of an eye. Or optic.

"I'm going on patrol," Arcee announced after a moment of silence.

"But Optimus told us to stay," Bulkhead objected.

"When you're in charge, you can call the shots," Arcee shot back, "Bee, with me."

"Congrats Bulkhead, that means you're in charge," Anakin said.

"So, uh…what's on the activity list?" Bulkhead asked sheepishly.

"How about band practice?" Miko suggested as she set up her guitar and amp.

Rex raised an eyebrow. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"But we're not a band," Raf objected.

"Why so antisocial? Come on, Raf. Can you play anything?" Miko asked him.

"Um…keyboard," Raff answered unsurely, holding up his laptop to show her.

"Laptops and symbols. Good. Jack?" Miko turned her attention to Jack.

"I sometimes mess around with the harmonica," Jack confessed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Do I look like I do country? Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming," Miko suggested.

"She cannot be serious," Cody muttered.

"I'm afraid that she is," Obi-Wan said with a small smirk.

"Bulkhead! Percussion! Go for a big industrial sound! D.I.Y! We're a band! You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballad. _My Fist, Your Face_ ," Miko said before strumming the chords of the song.

The sound made almost everyone cover their ears in response.

Jack groaned. "Miko, I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure Alora is better suited for singing, and guitar for that matter."

"Please don't bring me into this," Alora moaned.

"Commander, you sing?" Rex questioned.

"And play guitar?" Ahsoka added.

"You guys have never heard her? I always tried to get her to join choir or audition for the school musical, but she always said she never had time," Jack shrugged but then added. "I guess I know why now."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "I'm afraid I've only ever heard her hum while doing busy work."

Miko squealed making everyone flinch. "You have to sing for us one day! Promise me!"

"Miko, I don't think that…" Alora began before Miko cut her off.

"Promise!"

"Ok, ok, I promise!" She said waving her hands. "Sheesh!"

The Japanese girl squealed again before wailing away on her guitar once more. Once again everyone covered their ears, that is until an alarm began to sound.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Bulkhead shouted.

"Come on! You can't handle raw power?" Miko teased.

"Proximity sensor. Quick! Hide! Now!" Bulkhead instructed quickly.

While Jack, Miko, and Raf scrambled to hide behind Bulkhead's giant foot, Bulkhead and team Jedi tried their best to make everything seem normal. Just as they finished the elevator doors opened and out came Special Agent Fowler himself.

"Prime!" Fowler called up.

"Agent Fowler! He's…uh, he's not here. Nobody's here! Well…obviously, except for me and the Jedi, of course," Bulkhead confessed sheepishly.

"Well, where did he go? Wait. Don't tell me. He's out pancaking a mini-mall!" Fowler said snarkily.

Bulkhead remained silent and sent a glance towards the Jedi and Clone mixture.

"Now I don't know what language you speak on your planets. But Prime and the Jedi promised you would handle both the Decepticons and the Separatists!" Fowler began angrily, "And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is _not_ what the world 'handle' means in English! So you tell Prime-!"

Fowler trailed off at the sound of an electric guitar, and Alora winced ever so slightly as his gaze followed the sound to the nearby amplifier.

"Since when are you bots electric?" He asked Bulkhead.

The trio of humans looked at each other, and, figuring that their cover was blown, stepped into view.

"Uh, hey. How's it going?" Jack greeted nervously.

"No!" Alora shouted. The Clones shook their heads and facepalmed.

"Contact with civilians _again_! Team Prime and Jedi has definitely gone off-book! Wait. Don't tell me. You're running a day-care center!" Fowler guessed sarcastically, before pointing to the Thettaskiff siblings. "You're mother did the same thing, telling me she was recruiting for the Jedi, but I know better now!"

"Uh…OK," Bulkhead stumbled with his words.

"We can explain all of this, Agent Fowler, I can assure you," Obi-Wan began.

"Uh, we're interns!" Jack interrupted.

"Student interns!" Raf piped in.

"Earning extra credit in auto-," Jack started.

"Robotics," Miko finished Jack's sentence.

"OK. Let's move. I'm taking all three of you to federal custody. For your own protection," Fowler decided as he approached the children.

Bulkhead stepped over the trio of humans, and Anakin stood before the Autobots foot with his arms crossed.

"We're protecting them," proclaimed the Jedi Knight.

"Is that so? Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon!" Fowler challenged as he picked up the phone off a nearby wall and began dialling the necessary number that was needed.

"I wouldn't use that phone," Obi-Wan said motioning for Cody to take aim.

Cody quickly and expertly shot the phone line with his blaster, making the communication device utterly useless.

"It's out of order."

"This isn't over! Not by a long shot!" Fowler swore as he began walking up the stairs, causing Ahsoka to roll her eyes.

Once Fowler was in the elevator and gone Bulkhead let out a sigh and looked to the others.

"Well. That went well," Anakin remarked with a shake of his head.

Ahsoka snorted. "You can say that again."

* * *

Ratchet looked around as he and Optimus walked around a foggy, maze like canyon. Rocks stumbled from cliffs every so often, only to disappear into the fog. It was eerily quiet aside from the falling rocks as the two continued on.

"Optimus, what do we hope to find here?" Ratchet asked of his old friend.

"The sight of the largest Cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy," Optimus answered.

"On Earth? You must be joking!" Ratchet scoffed.

"Do you recall the period late in the war when both sides began hiding their Energon spoils off-world?" Optimus began.

"Of course. It's the reason Energon deposits exist on planets like this one," Ratchet answered.

"It is also the reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one. And I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history," Optimus finished gravely.

* * *

Back at Autobot/Jedi Outpost Omega One, Alora watched from the security cameras as Agent Fowler boarded the helicopter he used to reach the former missile silo and flew away.

Obi-Wan placed a reassuring hand on his padawans shoulder. "If you're worried about him knowing about the civilians it was bound to happen anyways."

"I acknowledged that the minute they stepped foot in base, Master," Alora sighed, "but that's not what concerns me."

Using the Force Obi-Wan pulled a chair out for himself and placed it before her before sitting himself down, crossing his legs and waving for her to continue speaking. "Please, do tell."

"I just… have a bad feeling about all of this," she said, causing Obi-Wan to hum and stroke his beard.

"With you, that's never a good sign."

Meanwhile, Fowler calmed down a little as flew his helicopter. Flying relaxed him in situations like this, but what he wouldn't give to pilot one of the crafts the Jedi has in their possessions. Man those things were beauties! But thinking about that made him sigh. The Autobots and the Jedi have always meant well from day one on Earth. Both teams did what they could to protect the planet and keep it as peaceful as they could. Perhaps he was being too harsh on them this time. They had let civilians in on the secret before and everything had turned out fine… But still.

"Sir, it's Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I'm en route from the Autobot and Jedi base. I'll brief you in person," Fowler spoke into his radio.

However, the general wasn't the only one who was listening to Fowler, and things were about to go down…

* * *

_"Agent Fowler. I'm en route from the Autobot and Jedi base. I'll brief you in person."_

"Autobot and Jedi base, eh?" Starscream smirked. "Humans, always the weak link."

"Fetch us this Fowler so that he may brief us instead," Ivy instructed to no one in particular.

Soundwave silently took it upon himself to do the young heir's bidding and deployed the mini-con Laserbeak from his chest.

* * *

It wasn't long until alarms went off in Fowler's helicopter, interrupting his peaceful flight.

"I'm flying here!" Fowler pouted before seeing Laserbeak approaching him in front of him. "Well, by Uncle Sam's beard! First the freeway's not safe! Now air travel?" he shouted as he avoided Laserbeak.

Fowler continued flying around within the canyon in the hopes of losing Laserbeak. However, he soon came across a dead end that he would soon crash into if he did not act quickly. And act quickly he did. At the last second, he pulled up into the air, hoping that the Decepticon would crash. However, Fowler wasn't the only fancy flier… Laserbeak pulled up as well.

"You wanna dance, 'Con? I'll lead!" Fowler smirked.

With a flick of a switch and a hit of a button, shots were fired at Laserbeak. But all the bullets seem to do was ricochet off of the mini-cons thick armor. The Decepticon was getting angry, and decided to wait on further action until the human ran out of ammunition. To which Fowler did. And boy was he in trouble now.

Especially since Laserbeak slashed the rear engine off the helicopter, making a crash eminent.

"Never an Autobot or a Jedi around when you actually need one," Fowler moaned as he tried to regain control of the falling helicopter.

Claws ripped through the top of the helicopter soon after and grabbed Fowler. But before the metal bird could drag Fowler away, the agent pressed a button that would send a distress signal. As the Decepticon flew away with him all he could do was watch the crash and hope that someone got his SOS.

* * *

Back at base the alarms began to blare again, interrupting Obi-Wan and Alora's conversation.

"My ears!" Raf complained as he covered his ears.

"It's an SOS. From Fowler," Bulkhead read before staring unsurely at the control panel, "Uh…"

Alora immediately turned to the computer she was sitting at and began to quickly type commands.

"Did you trace it?" Raf asked.

"Location scan was incomplete," Alora shook her head.

"Oh well," Bulkhead shrugged.

"'Oh well'? Seriously?" Jack scoffed in disbelief.

"Fowler's a jerk!" Bulkhead argued.

"Whoa! Whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons or Separatists might have him!" Jack countered.

"And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Raf added in before gulping a little, " _Our_ location!"

"And did we not witness how fast Fowler backs down? They will totally make him squeal!" Miko exclaimed.

"But we lost the transmission! Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulkhead objected.

"That's not the point, Bulkhead, we have to find him!" Ark said.

"Maybe I can narrow it down. About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets," Raf explained as he started typing in commands on his laptop but not without noticing the stares he was getting from everyone, "What? I saw it on TV! Anyway, if I can hack into the government's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates."

"You know how to hack?" Rex asked incredulously.

"You're like two years old!" Miko added.

"Twelve… and a quarter," Raf corrected with a smug smile.

Anakin pointed at Raf with a smirk. "Him. I like him."

* * *

Inside the Nemesis, Starscream and Ivy watched in delight as the enemy liaison was dragged roughly by Vehicons towards them before being thrown roughly to the ground.

"Welcome, Agent Fowler," Ivy greeted with a malicious smirk.

"You treat all your guests this nice?" Fowler asked dusting himself off.

"Any friends of the Autobots or the Jedi of the Republic," Starscream chuckled.

"Autobots? Jedi? Like from the movies?" Fowler pretended to be oblivious.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be, hmm? Obviously, no one has told you that I have no appreciation for human humor. Make our guest comfortable," Ivy instructed before she and Starscream walked away.

Two battle droids approached Fowler and grabbed him by the arms.

"Alright, let's go," said one.

"Um, how are we going to chain him up there?" Asked the other pointing to the ceiling.

"Oh… I don't know…"

Fowler almost groaned. These droids were actually idiots. He was stuck with actual robotic idiots to chain him up.

* * *

"Latitude: 39.5. Longitude: 116.9," Raf read off Fowler's coordinates.

"We have our location," Anakin confirmed.

Obi-Wan nodded and turned to the present Clone Captain and Commander. "Rex, Cody, prepare your men we will be accompanying Bulkhead on this rescue mission."

"Yes, Sir!" They saluted in unison before turning to go follow their orders.

"Snips, Sparky, Ark, Ana you four stay here and watch over the civilians," Anakin instructed of the padawans.

"Yes, Master," The four responded.

"Don't break up the band!" Miko groaned before noticing the two squads of Clone troopers that walked in armed and ready for battle if needed.

"Whoa," gasped the three Earthlings.

Alora and Ahsoka smirked at each other as the troops, Jedi, and Bulkhead moved out.

"Well, I guess we have the run of the place," Jack said as he looked around. His eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Someone was missing.

Ark's eyes widened. "Miko?" He looked around worriedly. "Miko?"

Ahsoka groaned. "Tell me she…"

"You don't think that…?" Anika questioned.

Alora sighed and opened the comm-link patch. "Master, keep an eye out for Miko, I believe she hitched a ride."

* * *

The GroundBridge opened to the coordinates that Raf had supplied and the rescue team drove out.

Bulkhead let his occupants out of his vehicle mode and transformed. "Fowler!" He called out before noticing his surroundings. "Uh oh."

"The whole Decepticon shebang," Cody commented as his and Rex's squads arrived.

"No doubt the Clanker Army isn't too far behind," Rex added.

The rescue team agreed that the only hope of getting on board the ship was complete and utter stealth. They mapped out the guards patrol pattern after a few moments of observation, it would be a bit of a problem to try to get them all passed without being noticed. However that wasn't their only problem…

"Alright! What's the plan?" Miko asked excitedly as she poked her head out from behind a rock.

_"Master, keep an eye out for Miko, I believe she hitched a ride."_

"Yes, I noticed that," Obi-Wan replied, "Open the bridge again, I'll have one of our men escort her back to base."

Anakin looked to the squads and singled out a Clone trooper to bring Miko back.

"What! That's not fair!" She exclaimed.

"Miko!" Bulkhead gasped and signaled for her to be quiet.

The signal was a little too late as a vehicon came around the corner and noticed Miko. The Japanese girl turned around at the sound of its gun charging.

"Oh. Unwise," Miko realized as her shoulders slumped.

"Miko! Get down!" Bulkhead cried.

Miko jumped over the rock and ran towards the group as the Decepticon opened fire.

"Cover her!" Anakin ordered the squads as he and Obi-Wan ran to grab Miko.

The sounds of guns cocking and firing soon filled the air as the Clones opened fire on the Decepticon in hopes of slowing it down even a little bit.

Bulkhead ran up and tackled him to the ground. In a matter of moments, the two Cybertronians were fighting it out. At one point the Autobot had the Decepticon pinned to the ground beneath him. Miko found a large rock and carried it over to him.

"Hold him still!" She cried before slamming it down on the drones head only for it to do nothing.

Anakin grabbed Miko from behind and dragged her away to safety. "Nice try, kid, but you need to get out of here!"

Bulkhead had gotten up and dragged the vehicon with him, holding the Decepticon by the throat.

"Miko, look away!" Anakin instructed.

"But!" Miko began to object.

"Turn your head away!" Anakin repeated.

But she didn't listen, instead she watched in fascination as Bulkhead used his bare hands to rip out the Decepticon's inner wiring. Essentially off lining the poor drone.

* * *

"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Bulkhead," Arcee answered.

"I have a situation…," Bulkhead confessed as he and the team hid.

"Bulkhead, they're children! Humans! Just do whatever! You should be able to handle this by now!" Arcee sighed in frustration before she and Bumblebee suddenly skidded to a stop, "You're _where? She's_ where?"

* * *

"What should we do? They may not even realize that she had followed them!" Raf exclaimed in worry.

"Alora is calling it in now," Ark said.

"But Miko hasn't seen the 'Cons in action like we have. She has no idea," Jack said worriedly.

_"Yes, I noticed that. Open the bridge again, I'll have one of our men escort her back to base."_

"These are the coordinates. The destination is still locked in," Ahsoka announced after a quick check of the computer.

"Activate it," Alora said, earning a nod from her partner.

They all waited for the trooper to walk through with Miko but they never came.

Anika shook her head. "Something's not right…"

"I'm going after her," Jack said after another moment of silence.

"No you're not!" Alora exclaimed.

"At least not by yourself," Ahsoka added.

Ark nodded. "You'll die out there by yourself."

"We're going with," Anika said.

Alora stared at them in disbelief as they walked into the open GroundBridge before groaning. "Damn it," she swore, "I'm coming with. Raf, you're in charge!"

"In charge of _what?_ " Raf exclaimed before running to catch up with the others before the bridge closed.

However, a new problem joined the ring of current problems.

 _"Arcee to base. Come in. Jack? Alora? Listen up. We need you to bridge us back. Hello?"_ Arcee spoke into the commlink before sighing, "Bumblebee, metal to the pedal."

Bumblebee didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Fowler could only watch as Ivy and Starscream entered his prison. The two were quite a pair, even he could see it. What he couldn't see were the romantic tensions between the two, but that's a story for another time.

"Agent Fowler, we have one simple request that will save your family the pain of grieving," Starscream started, "Tell us the location of the Autobot and Jedi base."

"No problem. But I need to ask you something first," Fowler requested.

"Yes. We're listening," Ivy nodded. She'd answer any question so long as she got answers herself.

"I've got an issue with the customer service around here. Can I speak to the manager?" Fowler asked smugly.

The two stared at the Human with wide eyes for a moment before Ivy growled.

"I make the decisions around here! I'm in charge!" She shouted in frustration, red eyes glowing, literally glowing, with power.

Starscream chuckled. "Do your worst, my lady."

* * *

The rescue team sat by in cover, staring at the newly opened GroundBridge in hopes of it being their backup, but no one walked through leaving them all puzzled.

"What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?" Bulkhead moaned.

"Dude, the 'Cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler right now! Let's just storm the joint!" Miko suggested.

Rex groaned. "It's not that easy, kid."

"There's movement coming from within the bridge!" A Clone announced.

Bulkhead sighed in relief. "They're here."

However, his relief suddenly faded when he saw the padawans and the other two humans emerge from the portal and not Arcee or Bumblebee.

"Why don't those guys hang with their own bots? This is _our_ one-on-one time!" Miko pouted with her arms folded across her chest.

"This is not a bonding exercise!" Cody said.

"Are your bones vibrating?" Raf asked Jack who looked a little green.

Ark patted the sixteen year olds back. "Nausea is a side effect of entering the GroundBridge for the first time. You'll get used to it in time."

"And what do you think _you_ are doing here?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"I tried to stop them!" Alora sighed in frustration.

Just then a patrolling group of battle droids came around the corner only to spot the newest arrivals. A collective gasp of "Uh oh." and "Jedi!" came from the group alerting a nearby Vehicon.

"You there!" It exclaimed as it saw the group and began charging their guns.

"Scrap!" The team cursed in unison.

* * *

"I ask nicely one last time. The Autobot and Jedi base!" Ivy requested.

"Sure thing, sister. Right after you eat my star-bangled shorts!" Fowler retorted before silencing himself further upon seeing Ivy's reaction. He had messed up.

Ivy actually began to shake with rage, eyes glowing brighter. The emerald pendant she wore seemed to start glowing too as her anger awakened the power of Violet, the techno-organic Sith queen of Kaon. That's right. Alora and her siblings weren't the only reincarnations around.

The Decepticon heir practically roared as she shot red hot electricity from her fingertips, a trademark Sith technique that she had recently learned and had been itching to test out. She grinned in satisfaction when the agent began to scream and writhe in pain once it made contact with his body.

Starscream chuckled delightedly. Yes, Ivy was no weakling, he should never have doubted her for a moment.

* * *

During all of this, Optimus and Ratchet continued to walk through the war torn battlefield. The sight left Ratchet feeling uneasy. If Megatron has indeed returned things could go terribly wrong, and Ratchet and Optimus had a family to protect both inside base… and outside of it.

"For the first time in my life, Optimus, I had hoped that you were wrong," Ratchet confessed his thoughts out loud to his friend.

Before Optimus could respond they heard the sound of a jet flying above them. They looked up and saw a familiar figure fly above them towards a rock. Once above the rock, said figure transformed to reveal the enemy. Megatron.

"Optimus! Been well? I see you brought your trusty watchdog. I was certain he'd be convalescing in a scrap yard by now," Megatron remarked.

"Why don't you invite him down here for a chat?" Ratchet suggested as he punched his fist into his hand.

"I know why you're here, Megatron," Optimus proclaimed.

"Hardly a surprise, Optimus. After all, you and I have been at this for a long time. And your time has come to an end," Megatron nodded as he held up a glowing shard of Dark Energon for Optimus and Ratchet to see before throwing it to the ground below.

The shard hit the ground, and instead of shattering or just getting stuck in the rock it melted deep into it. Nothing happened for a few moments until the ground began to crack with glowing purple light.

Optimus and Ratchets optics widened in shock as they both took a few steps back.

"Rise, my army!" Megatron shouted as his optics and circuitry glowed the same bright purple as the ground below.

Below him the Autobots watched in horror as dead Cybertronian warriors emerged from the ground, rusted or tarnished armor being lit up by the Dark Energon.

"By the Allspark!" Ratchet gasped quietly as more soldiers seemed to rise.

"Behold the power of Dark Energon!" Megatron proclaimed with a menacing laugh.

The dead army had risen to their feet at this point and slowly began to make their way to Optimus and Ratchet. The two Autobots sent out silent prayers in hopes of coming out alive and seeing their daughters again...


	4. Darkness Rising Part 4

**-Chapter 4: Darkness Rising Part 4-**

As the dead continued to rise and Optimus and Ratchet stood silently as they took a moment to assess the situation further.

"Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors. And his own!" Ratchet proclaimed.

"Not even the dead are free from his war-mongering," Optimus stated grimly.

"At last. Symbiosis. I can feel it possess complete control over my army. Destroy them!" Megatron instructed his undead army. He stood there, grinning as they rose to do his bidding.

But before the undead could even reach the two Autobots, Optimus armed his cannons and fired away. But even his fire power couldn't provide them that much help.

"Optimus, if our combatants are already deceased, how can we possibly defeat them?" Ratchet asked in worry.

"Ratchet! Retreat! Bridge yourself back to base!" Optimus ordered his friend.

"No! I shall stand with you, Optimus!" Ratchet exclaimed as he unfolded his blades from his arms, "You may require a medic when this is all over with, and I'm not about to let another one of the children's parents die!"

Optimus gave the medic a nod of thanks before the two charged into the army ready for battle. As Optimus fired shot after shot, Ratchet cut the dead Cybertronians into bits and pieces. Where they stayed dead.

"I recommend dissection! The smaller the pieces, the better!" Ratchet advised Optimus.

"Sound advice, old friend," Optimus acknowledged before trading his cannons for his blades.

"I have mastered Dark Energon. When you fall, Optimus, you too shall join my army," Megatron proclaimed. "And together we will defeat your Autobots and Neve will be able to brainwash your daughters as well as Nola's other children once more!"

Optimus' spark almost stopped at the idea. He had lost his children as well as Ark and Anika to Neve once before soon after Nola had died. The Prime never knew what had happened to the four in that time, all he knew was that Ark, Alora and Anika were the only ones to return. It didn't take long for him to recognize that Alora's trauma left gaps in her memories. Memories of their relationship. Memories of her own twin.. **(AN: That's right folks, I'm changing the backstory around a little bit, but not as much as you think.)** Upon learning about this brainwashing just now, Optimus vowed to never let anything happen to the children ever again, and it pushed him to continue fighting this army until nothing was left of it.

* * *

On the subject of fighting, the Jedi all had their lightsabers out as they formed a protective circle around the three civilians. Battle droids fired shots at them only for them to ricochet off of a lightsaber and back at them. The Clone squadron also opened fire on the battle was when Bulkhead finally decided to intervene.

"Get in! _Now_!" Bulkhead instructed as he opened his passenger-side door.

"Alora, Ahsoka go with them!" Ordered Obi-Wan.

The two padawans nodded and carefully got the trio of humans into the truck before climbing inside him themselves.

"Thanks, Bulkhead," Jack panted.

"Yeah. Thanks," Raf agreed.

"What are you doing out here?" Bulkhead demanded.

"We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?" Jack asked worriedly.

"What does she look like?" Miko joked as she popped up from the back seat.

"Wait, Jack, you seriously didn't notice her?" Alora deadpanned.

"Er…"

"Everybody out! And this time, _please_ wait here!" Bulkhead pleaded to his friends as he finally got them some cover. "Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker should be here any moment to keep you guys safe."

Once they were out, Bulkhead drove towards the Decepticon warship. He jumped into the air and transformed at the last minute before he could crash into the cliff face. Once his hands found some grip he began to climb his way up and onto the he noticed a Decepticon above him, he grabbed it by the 'ankle' and threw him off the ship before jumping on. Immediately, the Decepticons fired while a few battle droids jumped in surprise. None of this came to Bulkhead as a problem of course. In fact he took down Decepticon after Decepticon with ease, and even took some pleasure in kicking a few droids off of the ship. It was always funny to hear their high pitched squeal as they fell to the ground below.

Once things cleared up he took a moment to look down to where the rest of the rescue team now sat in waiting, and took a head count. Jack and Raf. Good good. Ark, Ahsoka and Anika. Great. Obi-Wan, Anikan, Rex and Cody. Even better. Alora. Phenomenal, Prime wouldn't kill him. However…

"Where's Miko?" Bulkhead called out.

His response was the sound of banging coming from inside his chest plates. He opened the compartment and Miko popped out, taking in huge gulps of oxygen as she did.

"Miko?"

"I heaved on your floor mats. Sorry," Miko apologized before gagging once again and climbed out onto his hand, "Remind me to never do that again."

Bulkhead managed to put Miko down before a vehicon tackled him out of nowhere. It wasn't a problem though seeing as he easily flipped the vehicon off of him and began beating him.

When he looked behind Miko, he saw a door open and two more Vehicons stepped out and stared at Miko. The young Japanese girl looked behind her and immediately regretted her decision of hiding inside the Autobots chest plates. Suddenly, Bulkhead began shooting them and Miko had to duck down for safety.

"Get out of the way!" Bulkhead cried as he tore off one of the sonars and threw it at the Vehicons, knocking them down instantly.

But when more Decepticons and Battle Droids started showing up Bulkhead knew they had to get out of there. He scooped Miko into his hand and jumped into the Decepticon ship, leaving the Jedi and Clones to protect Jack and Raf.

Even though the Battle Droids were easy to pick off, the Vehicons were another thing. Trying to fight both at the same time while also protecting the civilians was proving to be a harder task than previously thought. Unfortunately, as more came along, those trying to defend them had to move further and further away from the two boys.

"Think they forgot about us?" Raf asked nervously as Decepticons approached them from behind.

Suddenly a dark shadow rolled over the group, causing everyone to look up. A group of Vehicons now stood towering over them, guns armed and ready.

"Well, that's not good,'' Obi-Wan said.

* * *

Inside the Nemesis, Bulkhead ran through the hallways trying to find somewhere safe for Miko who was sitting in his hand looking as though she was going to be sick again. However, Decepticons noticed them and began to attack the duo. Bulkhead threw Miko so that she slid across the floor and right underneath them while Bulkhead took them out. Any Battle Droids in the vicinity that witnessed the human girl slide past them across the floor stood there in confusion while their tiny droid brains processed what just happened. However, before they could do anything, Bulkhead plowed through them as he ran for Miko.

"I'm gonna heave again," Miko groaned before Bulkhead scooped her up and continued to run.

* * *

"Bring them to the brig. Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there. Lady Ivy will handle them."

The Decepticons and Separatists managed to capture the team of Jedi and Clones as well as the civilians. The group walked with their hands up in surrender as droids poked blasters into their backs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Bumblebee knocked over the Decepticons and Arcee jumped over him transforming into her bipedal mode from her alternate mode. She turned and took aim at the droids, leaving them distracted enough for the Jedi to take back their lightsabers and attack, giving the Clone troopers the opportunity to take blasters to defend themselves with.

"Appreciate you opening the front door for us, but storming a Decepticon warship was NOT on the activities list," Arcee reprimanded.

"This was extremely reckless of all of you," Obi-Wan added.

"Tell me about it," Jack sighed.

Arcee shook her head and watched as the Clones finished off and droids left standing. " _Somebody else could come strolling along any second now,"_ she thought, before running down the corridor with her blaster charging up. She could hear footsteps coming from around the corner, so when she reached the end of the hall she pointed her blaster only to stop short when she realized that it was Bulkhead on the other side with his own weapon drawn.

"Friendly!" She shouted.

"Hello!" Bulkhead greeted at the same moment.

Arcee sighed, and they both put their weapons away as the others caught up to them. "Brought everyone, huh?"

"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead retorted.

"We need to find Fowler and get the civilians out of here," Arcee said.

"Um, he's in the brig!" The kids proclaimed in unison.

* * *

Ivy was currently having the time of her life in the brig. Having the human ally of the Autobots and Republic as a prisoner that she could torture was possibly the best stress reliever she could have asked for since her father's return. The agent was getting closer and closer to his breaking point, and soon Ivy would have all the information she needed to end her enemies.

"My dear Agent Fowler, you do realize that your friends have abandoned you," Ivy cooed, "I am the only one you can rely on now. So tell us what we want to know… Or else!" Red sparks of electricity danced over Ivy's skin as she prepared another round of lightning to shoot at the agent.

"Wait… No more," Fowler moaned in pain, "They're in a secret government base…"

"Go on," Starscream said from behind Ivy.

Suddenly, sounds of gunfire rang from behind the closed doors of Fowler's cell. That was when the agent realized that all was not lost, his allies had come to rescue him! All he had to do was hang on for a few more seconds and then freedom would be his. Or so he hoped.

These noises, however, annoyed Ivy to no end, and of course, Starscream noticed and urged the agent once more.

"In the old steel mill? Or was it under that carnival house?" Fowler mused out loud.

Ivy lost it.

Her eyes began to glow a bright, vibrant red, and electricity crackled angrily over her skin as she growled in response. She has enough power raging through her to fry the good for nothing human alive if he hadn't actually been good for nothing, instead she settled to hear the agent scream in agony once more as she let the electricity shoot down her arm and through Fowler's body.

Starscream watched for a moment in amusement before turning to the two, now shaking, vehicons. "Someone find out what is going on out there!"

The two nodded silently and bolted out of the cell, grateful to not have to witness Ivy's rage any longer than they had to. Every Decepticon knew not to underestimate the Princess of the Nemesis, because while she may seem cool and collected, perhaps even a little anxious, inside of her was a raging fire that was ready to explode.

* * *

Outside, the battle raged on, and the three civilians were caught right in the middle of it. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion for them. Shots were firing from both sides, there were screams from both battle droids and clone troopers who had been shot, the sounds of lightsabers cutting through metal filled the air as the Jedi gracefully danced their ways around the enemies.

At one point, Jack turned to find a clone at his feet. Unfortunately, it was very evident that this clone had been shot and killed in the fight. Of course, Jack had never seen a dead body before, especially one that had died in front of him. Instead of everything moving in slow motion now everything was spinning, and he felt like he was going to be sick. That was until cool hands turned his face away, and all he saw was Anika's doll-like eyes.

"Deep breaths," she said in a soothing voice, "It's horrible, yes, but you can't think about it, thinking about it only makes it worse. All you can do is honor him, and remember that he fought to keep you safe."\

The blue and yellow of Anika's eyes seemed to swirl together the longer Jack looked into them, but at the same time, the longer he looked, the better he felt.

This just so happened to be one of Anika's many talents that she inherited due to being a reincarnation like her siblings. She was the reincarnation of Anakania Thetiskofia, who was raised by the Jedi long ago but left the order to study the habits of different Nightsister clans across the universe, where she became an honorary Nightsister and learned their magic alongside them. Anika had access to that magic, but she had a hard time controlling it, however she always found it easy when it came to someone in distress.

And boy was Jack in distress.

* * *

Anyways, back to Optimus and the Walking Dead knockoffs.

Waves of the undead continued their attack on the two Autobots while Megatron watched overhead with thoughts of victory and of building an empire he can leave behind for his daughter to rule.

Optimus and Ratchet began to find no way out as they were surrounded to the point of their backs being pushed together.

Ratchet looked over his shoulder at his leader. "Optimus, this prolonged exposure to Dark Energon is sapping our strength."

Optimus gave a nod and began to push forward. "We cannot falter now!"

But the undead just kept coming with no end in sight, and Optimus was quickly overwhelmed as they began pinning him down, trying to tear into him.

Ratchet only had enough time to call out his name before he too was taken down.

The Autobot leader struggled under the pile of undead, and for a moment he shut his optics. In that moment, a memory of Nola's smiling face as they played with the children filled his mind, and suddenly Optimus found the extra strength he needed to throw the zombies off of him and continue the fight. He made his way over to Ratchet, and disposed of the undead that were attacking him. Once free, he helped Ratchet up and the two faced the oncoming wave with new energy.

"After all these years, Optimus, still at the top of your game?" Megatron chuckled darkly. "My legion, finish them!"

And so, the battle continued, but Optimus wouldn't back down. He made a promise to Nola that he intended to keep, even if it killed him.

* * *

**Back in one of the intelligence rooms on the ship, the occupants heard banging coming from outside. Once one of the battle droids opened the door, he was easily picked off by a blaster one of the Clones wielded. In a matter of moments, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee had taken care of the Vehicons inside while the Jedi and remaining Clones picked off the rest of the droids. Once it was clear, the three civilians were ushered in.**

"Wait here," Arcee told the humans, earning some concern from Bumblebee, "They're slowing us down and easy targets. They'll be alright in here with the Jedi, as long as they stay put."

With that, the three Autobots ran out of the computer room, leaving the group to themselves.

"That was intense," Miko said after a moment of silence filled the room.

"Was?" Raf repeated, a little miffed.

"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity. What were you thinking, Miko?" Jack demanded with a glare.

"Did I ask you to follow me?" Miko glared back, crossing her arms.

"You wanted us to be a band! Doesn't that usually mean playing together?" Jack shot back.

"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!" Miko said.

"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety!" Jack huffed.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Is your name Optimus? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead! Thank you very much!" Miko snapped.

During this whole conversation, Raf watched anxiously as his friends argued back and forth. He didn't like confrontation, and everything that just happened wasn't helping, and it didn't seem like anyone else was going to step in and stop them. This was too much, he couldn't take it.

"Stop it! Both of you!" He cried before running over to a portion of the room far from the others.

This made Jack and Miko back off of each other as they realized that he was just as distraught. The Jedi team looked at each other, trying to read the situation and give a correct response. Anika was about to step forward, ready to use the same trick she had with Jack not too long ago, but Alora placed her hand on her sister's shoulder to stop her. This wasn't her mess to clean, Jack and Miko had to fix this. And fix it they would.

"Oh. Hey, hey, hey, Raf. It's ok," Jack reassured him as the two sat next to him.

"Yeah. We're gonna be fine," Miko smiled.

"How do you know?" Raf asked, sniffling slightly.

Jack looked around for something to try and distract the boy with when the computers caught his eye. "Hey, what do you guys make of that?"

Anikan looked at what Jack was seeing and frowned a little as he got closer. "It's important. Really important…"

* * *

"Wake up, you pathetic lump of flesh!" Starscream yelled as he stomped his foot in an effort to wake the agent.

Fowler merely lifted his head groggily, saying, "Grandma? Is it cookie time?" Before passing out once again.

Ivy's eyebrow twitched violently in annoyance. All she had wanted was to please her father, since she was obviously never going to please her mother, and gift his return with the news that she had ripped the location of his enemies hideout from their most trusted ally, but apparently humans from earth were so weak, and pathetic, disgusting little worms. Everything about this planet annoyed her to no end and she couldn't wait to see it fall under her fathers heel.

_Knock knock!_

And that! That stupid, incessant, knocking that had been going on for the past five minutes. That was also getting on her nerves. Can't the heiress of the Decepticons get some peace and quiet while trying to torture people for information?

She had enough.

" _What!_ " she snapped angrily, whipping her head towards the door.

Starscream sighed and turned to the door as it opened. "Well!"

They were met with the sight of the Vehicon that had supposedly knocked falling to the floor to reveal Bulkhead with his blaster ready. He didn't waste any time shooting the remaining guard in the cell before he and Bumblebee entered, blasted pointed at both Ivy and Starscream. All they needed was to get past the evil duo and rescue Fowler.

Ivy merely took in the situation, before smirking. In the blink of an eye, she had her lightsaber out and pointed at the agent's neck, the red glow of her blade reflecting in her malicious eyes. "Not so fast. We wouldn't want my hand to slip and our dear Agent Fowler come to an untimely end, now do we?"

Starscream had his own blasters out now. One pointed at the Autobots before him in an effort to protect himself and his master's daughter, and the other pointed at Fowler, just for the extra measure.

However, when he felt a tapping on his head, he looked up only to find Arcee hanging from an overhead shaft, her blaster pointed at his head.

"I wouldn't," she smirked.

He offered his own smirk in return. "Oh, but I might~"

* * *

Ahsoka stood beside Anikan examining the computer Jack had discovered. "We gotta get this to Optimus."

Miko sighed and picked at her nails. "How do you know that it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?"

Ark raised an eyebrow. "Miko, what exactly do you think goes on in space that a recipe for nachos would be that complicated?"

"I know math when I see it. And that is one serious equation," Raf said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Can you download it?" Jack asked.

"I've got a flash drive," Raf said as he dug around his backpack, "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is _way_ alien."

"And I don't think any of our tech can accommodate Cybertronian data," Alora sighed.

Their conversation was cut off by the sound of footsteps approaching. Large, heavy footsteps. They all turned to find a Vehicon entering the room. They all stood stock still as it surveyed the area.

"Scatter!" Obi-Wan whispered. "Find a place to hide!"

With that, they did. The small team scattered to different hiding places, trying to drag the three civilians along. I say trying, because Raf realized he left his backpack in the middle of the room for all to see. He broke away from Anika's grasp and ran for it, only for the Vehicon to finally take notice and point its blaster at the human child.

All Raf could do was stop and stare in horror.

* * *

"Now, the three of us are going to take our leave," Ivy said coolly.

Fowler took this moment to be conscious long enough to spout some things about an emu and what kind of noises they make.

This distracted Ivy and Starscream long enough for the firefight to start. Starscream yelped and danced around trying to dodge the bullets. Ivy tried to regain her focus only for Starscream to grab her and transform, flying past Bumblebee and Bulkhead and away from the prison cells to their own safety.

What no one noticed as they all made their respective getaways, was the one prison cell that was set up like a lavishly decorated bedroom. Another thing no one noticed, was the woman imprisoned inside, watching, waiting, and hoping.

* * *

Raf was almost certain that he was about to die at the hands of this Vehicon.

Miko covered her eyes, scared to see what could happen, and all Jack could do was stare in frozen horror. That was until Cody raced out and tackled Raf to the floor as the Vehicon opened fire, nearly hitting both of them.

This woke everyone up, and once again, chaos ensued. The Jedi jumped with lightsabers out to try and distract the Vehicon while Rex and the two remaining clones opened fire as well.

Jack ran to take Raf from Cody and looked back at Miko. "Miko! Take a picture!" He shouted.

"Great idea!" She gasped, taking out her phone. She ran into the center of the room and waved the Vehicon down. "Hey you!" When it looked over at her, she snapped the picture. It was the wrong picture, but a picture nonetheless.

Ark groaned. "Not of that! Of _that_!" He exclaimed and pointed at the screen.

"Oh… Right…"

As soon as the correct picture was obtained the group ran out and away from the Vehicon, Anikan screaming at them all to keep going as the con was hot on their tails.

Suddenly, there was a familiar honk from behind. Alora looked and screamed for them to duck as Bulkhead transformed and flipped over them taking on the Vehicon in a fist fight almost immediately. Once he inevitably won, he transformed and drove over to the group and opened his doors, Arcee and Bumblebee not too far behind.

Alora and Jack climbed onto Arcee as everyone else piled into Bumblebee and Bulkhead. It was a tight squeeze, but at least they were safe and finally leaving.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" Arcee reprimanded.

Alora rolled her eyes. "Tell that to the Decepticon!"

"I like pie. Can we stop for pie?" Agent Fowler asked as he sat up from Bumblebee's backseat in a dazed stupor before falling back again.

"You found Fowler!" Anika exclaimed.

"Rock on!" Miko cheered.

* * *

Optimus had finally found a way to bust through what seemed like endless waves of undead Cybertronians. Megatron watched in amusement from above him on the cliff face.

"Bravo, Optimus. Though this is just a prelude. You may wish to save your strength for the main event," he tormented maliciously.

"You will not prevail, Megatron. Not while Energon still runs through my veins," Optimus panted as he began to climb up the cliff.

"Fitting, for it is Dark Energon that flows through mine," Megatron smirked.

Optimus merely punched him in response.

However, the Decepticon leader didn't feel like a fight today, so he jumped, transformed, and flew off, leaving Optimus to stand by and watch. The Prime could hear Ratchet climbing up the cliff as well, and reached over to help his friend up. The two turned and looked at the trail of bodies below.

"If this wasn't Megatron's endgame, what is?" Ratchet asked.

* * *

The events of the day were finally catching up to everyone as they all regrouped at the Outpost. Everyone seemed to busy themselves as a sort of distraction. Rex and Cody took stock of the troopers they had lost and went to report back to the Republic Cruiser that remained hidden in Earth's orbit. Ark and Anika took over caring for Fowler, making sure he had an iv bag hooked up to him to make sure the pain resided, and hoped he woke up soon. Ratchet's arm had been injured, so Optimus helped to set everything right, as soon as this was done everyone was gathered together.

Anika observed Ratchet's arm worriedly and frowned. "What happened to you guys anyway?"

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet answered.

"Zombies? You fought _zombies_ and I missed it!" Miko pouted, crossing her arms.

Ahsoka glared at the human girl, "Are you kidding-"

Alora grabbed her hand before the togruta could finish her sentence. "Trust me, just don't."

"Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you," Optimus reprimanded.

"It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise," Bulkhead swore and looked away.

Ark shook his head. "It wasn't all Bulkheads fault."

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. "Yes, we are partially to blame as well. Miko ran past all of us. However, we seemed to have discovered some important information regarding the Decepticons."

"Oh yeah!" Miko exclaimed and pulled up the picture to show to Optimus. "Check it out! Recon!"

Optimus bent down and squinted to see. "Ratchet, take a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."

"Whoa. Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?" Jack asked nervously.

"And now that the Decepticons are in league with the Separatists, who knows what that will mean for this planet," Alora sighed.

"I don't understand," Ratchet confessed as he looked at the photo Miko offered him.

Confused, Miko looked at the photo and giggled. "Oops. That's the 'Con who tried to blow Raf away. At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"

"Miko, Raf was almost killed! This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?" Jack snapped.

"Uh…we were _all_ almost killed, Jack! You, me, Raf, even them!" Miko retorted as she gestured to the two teams.

"Well, if this was just an average day with these guys, then I don't want to be a part of it! Not anymore!" Jack huffed and looked at Alora. "I'm sorry Ally, but I can't live this way. Not like you can."

Alora looked away. "The decision is yours. I won't force your hand."

"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk. But the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave," Optimus reassured him.

"No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door," Ratchet said as he opened the ground bridge.

Jack nodded at everyone before looking at the twelve year old boy, "Come on, Raf."

"I'll be ok, Jack. See you at school," Raf promised.

"We all will," Anika added.

"Sure thing," Jack nodded before approaching the swirling green portal, only to be stopped by Arcee, "I know, I know. You don't exist."

"Don't make me hunt you down," Arcee threatened softly as she watched Jack leave.

They all watched as Jack left through the bridge and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Optimus watched as Obi-Wan looked to Alora and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, guilt ate at his spark. She was his child. That should be him comforting her. But some things were not meant to be, and it was still too soon to reveal the truth just yet.

* * *

Ivy trembled under the furious gaze of her father as she knelt before him with her head bowed low. She knew she was small in comparison to the warlord, but never has she felt smaller than in the moments where he was disappointed in her actions. She knew he would never lay a hand on her, in her short sixteen and a half years he had yet to, he normally reprimanded her and asked her to think upon her actions the next time around. Her mother had always been the one to slap her, but it didn't take much for her to do so, the woman was angered more easily than Megatron was, which was probably why they were such a good match.

"Ivy Rose, go to your room," he snarled. "We will speak when I am done with Starscream. Soundwave will escort you."

The heiress only nodded and sent a somewhat sympathetic glance at Starscream before climbing into Soundwave's hand.

As soon as they were gone Starscream looked at Megatron with wide optics. "Please, Lord Megatron! I meant no-!" His pleas were cut off by his own shouts of pain as Megatron slapped him around.

"I ordered you to await my command!" Megatorn roared as he slapped Starscream, "Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disabling of my ship! And the delay of my plans!"

"My intentions were pure, master! I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus!" Starscream defended before Megatron stepped him, inflicting more pain.

"No one rids me of Optimus Prime but me! Do you understand? Do you?" Megatron snapped as he pressed his foot harder against Starscream.

"Lord Megatron, I will make things right. I swear! I know how to set your plans back on course!" Starscream announced, causing Megatron to stop and step off of him.

"Explain, Starscream. Quickly," Megatron growled as he held Starscream up in the air by his throat. The leader found Starscream's pain even more enjoyable than he normally did, especially since Soundwave had informed him of the growing attraction between the second in command and his daughter. There would be no way in the pits of Kaon that he would allow Starscream to worm his way into Ivy's spark, because his daughter deserved better. She was to be a Queen, an Empress even! And such leaders had no use for servant lovers.

* * *

Once in front of her door, Soundwave carefully set Ivy down and nodded in response to her thanks before gently shooing her into her room. The poor thing was most likely about to have a panic attack. Again. And he knew she would go on a rampage if anyone caught her. Besides him, of course, she knew there was no escaping his sights.

As soon as the door closed, he turned and made his way towards the brig. Even though his sensors told him what he wanted, he still felt the need to go in person to check. With all of the commotion with the Jedi and Autobots onboard the Nemesis earlier that day there was a good chance that they could have found her. As much as it killed him to keep her imprisoned, Megatron had convinced him that it was for her safety, that her special gift would have people all over the known galaxy hunting her down for it, and Soundwave couldn't let that happen.

Soon enough, he found himself before the lavishly decorated cell turned bedroom, where the woman sat on her bed, reading a book that Ivy no doubt had lended her. She had one hand on the book, and the other was reached over, stroking the side of his own mini-con, Ravage, that lay beside her bed. He had left Ravage with her so that she wouldn't be so lonely in her confinement, it seemed to make her somewhat happy, but he knew she was still angry at him for keeping her here.

He took a moment to watch her in his silence.

She looked to be about 26 human years, but she was actually over 2,000 years older than that. She had grown pale from the lack of exposure to sunlight, making her silver blue eyes stand out even more. Her purple-black hair, the same that his holoform shared, was braided loosely and hung over her shoulder, pieces of metal woven into every other row, and a silver circlet sat above her eyebrows. She looked almost as regal as her mother had been, but it was now just a facade. His poor, fallen, princess.

She had many names that she preferred, the most popular being Salena, but he knew her real name. He had held her shortly after she was born when her mother named her after all. Which is why he chose her mother's voice, Aloria's voice, when he said…

" _Anteia."_

Slowly, her hand paused its stroking motion against Ravage, earning a sound of discontent front the feline mini-con, and she snapped the book shut with her other hand. Looking to where Soundwave stood, she smiled, a rather fake smile at that.

"Hello, father."

* * *

As soon as Jack got home he found he couldn't sit still as the events of the day still played back in his mind. All he could think about is the body of the dead clone and then Alora's disappointed face as he left. It drove him nuts. After walking almost the entire expanse of his house, his mom was at work so he didn't have to worry about her being worried about him, he walked into the garage and started taking apart his old bike. Soon, he had all the parts cleaned and was working on putting the bike back together, when bright headlights filled the garage. Looking up, he found that Bulkhead had pulled up the driveway and Miko hopped out of the passenger side.

"Now I understand why you had to rush home," Miko teased as she walked in.

"Don't you have something exciting to do, Miko?" Jack asked in annoyance.

"So, this is where you hang, huh? Back home in Tokyo, I have loving parents and two purebred cats, Chi Chi and Ding Dong. I went to the best school, took piano lessons since I was three," Miko recalled as she snooped through a box of Christmas decorations.

"How nice for you," Jack sighed, uninterested.

"No! How boring!" Miko corrected, causing Jack to look at her, "It wasn't me. Why do you think I jumped at the chance to transfer here?"

"To Jasper, Nevada? The entertainment capital of the world?" Jack scoffed.

"Yeah, well, the brochure lied. Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good in fact," Miko remarked, "And then, the last couple of days happened."

"Do you have a point?" Jack asked impatiently.

"You bet! I saw what you did today. When you came to save me!" Miko said.

"I was raised to be responsible. To my schoolwork, to my mom, my job!" Jack explained bitterly as he placed the wheel back on his bike.

"Dude, hear me out!" Miko begged, "You're no fry cook! You're a rock star! Stop trying to pretend you're normal, Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more."

"Thanks, Miko. But I think normal suits me fine," Jack sighed.

Miko rolled her eyes and sighed before climbing back into Bulkhead and leaving.

* * *

"It can't be!" Ratchet gasped as he examined the equations that had been acquired earlier, "Optimus! These are engineering specs for a Space Time Vortex Generator!"

"Megatron is building a Space Bridge. If he hasn't already," Optimus realized.

"The sooner he leaves, the better," Bulkhead said as he and Bumblebee approached them.

"Bulkhead, a space bridge runs in two directions. Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth. But to bring through his conquering army," Optimus proclaimed gravely.

"The main event Megatron referred to. But the only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen soldiers is…," Ratchet trailed off as it all dawned on him.

"Precisely," Optimus agreed, "Cybertron…"

_To be continued._


	5. Darkness Rising Part 5

**-Chapter 5: Darkness Rising Part 5-**

Jackson Darby sighed as he pulled up to the KO Drive In on his ten speed bike. Just yesterday he had the adventure of a lifetime, and now he was here having to deal with the Karen's that came through the drive through and up to the counters. Unfortunately, Karen's were everywhere, even in Jasper, Nevada.

"Nice bike.

Surprised, Jack turned around and saw Arcee parked in her vehicle mode in front of him.

"Arcee, really, Miko already tried. Tell Optimus and the Jedi I respect them big time, but if you're at war, there's nothing I can do to help," Jack explained apologetically.

"No one sent me and no one's asking for your help," Arcee said.

"Ok. If we both agree that I'm not warrior material," Jack acknowledged.

"Jack, I just lost someone I cared about. Maybe it's the grief talking. Maybe you're growing on me. Whatever it is, I'm just not ready to say goodbye," she confessed. Jack looked at her in surprise, actually feeling touched.

Maybe leaving had been the wrong thing to do. Had he jumped the gun and misjudged all of them?

* * *

"Optimus, I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's Space Bridge: high in Earth's orbit," Ratchet announced from his place at the computers.

"Out of our reach," Optimus sighed.

"Ok, so you guys don't fly. But can't you just ground bridge there?" Miko asked.

"The ground bridge has limited range. Stretched all the way into the orbit, its vortex could snap and scatter us to the stars," Ratchet explained.

Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "If anything, we may be able to help. We can alert the admiral and try to get some transport ships down here, but who knows how long that could take."

"Especially since this planet is very touchy about who enters their airspace," Anakinagreed. "Plus, those transports are small, it'll be a tight squeeze for the Bots, even in vehicle mode."

"Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take the risk of using the ground bridge. Reaching the Space Bridge first is our only means of stopping him," Optimus said.

"Couldn't we provide a distraction then? Make the Cons notice us instead of the Bots?" Ahsoka suggested.

Alora nodded. "That could probably work, I can take my squad, do a few fly bys near the Nemesis and get their attention."

Optimus had to keep himself from frowning at the idea of Alora potentially putting herself in harm's way. He had never wanted her to be involved in his war, but now he had no choice, especially now that she was fighting in a war of her own. "The help would be much appreciated."

"So it's settled then," Obi-Wan said and turned to Alora. "Go find Axel and tell him to get the rest of your squad ready."

Anakin put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll gather some of the 501st and Ahsoka and I will support you. You know, since Obi-Wan hates flying."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "It's not that I hate flying Anakin, it's just that I hate flying in the same space as you.

"You do tend to do a lot of crash landings, master," Ahsoka laughed, causing Alora to snort.

"I'll say."

"Oh, be nice, it can't be that bad," Anika said.

"Thank you, Anika!" Anakin said, "See? Someone gets it."

The sound of Arcee's horn honking drew everyone's attention away from the conversation and towards the outer entrance to the hideout, where Arcee came driving in with a certain human boy riding along.

"Jack?" Alora questioned.

Jack got off of Arcee and took his helmet off. "Hey, guess who's back."

Ahsoka laughed and playfully punched Ark in the shoulder. "Ha! You owe me ten credits!" He grumbled and reached into a pocket, pulling out the amount needed and handed it to her which she stuffed into a storage pouch on her belt.

"You took a bet? Seriously?" Anika asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Duh. Why wouldn't we?" Ahsoka smirked.

"Autobots, prepare for departure," Optimus said, shaking his head at the children's antics.

"Where to?" asked Arcee.

"The final frontier," Miko answered, trying to sound ominous.

"Space?" Jack gasped, "I thought they didn't have a way to get there."

"They don't, really," Raf answered as Bumblebee placed him on the ground. "The Jedi do, but apparently it still won't work."

"Be seeing you?" Jack asked Arcee uncomfortably, earning a nod in response.

"Be careful, Bee," Raf begged. Bumblebee nodded and bleeped a response of reassurance.

"I'm so jealous!" Miko pouted.

"Don't even think about following me," Bulkhead warned.

"Or us," Ahsoka said as she, her master, and Alora prepared to depart for their ships.

Jack blinked. "You guys are going too?

"Just to provide some cover, kid, don't worry," a Clone who was followed by some troopers said. Unlike the blue and orange colors that Rex and Cody's battalion wore, this squad had scarlet painted in various designs on their armor. This Clone wore his hair in the same buzz cut fashion Cody wore, but the difference with his looks was that a good half of his face had been distorted by what looked like scars from a horrible burn. He looked over and nodded at Alora. "The ships are prepared and waiting for you, Commander."

Alora nodded and smiled as she walked down the steps. "Captain Axel, thank you for the help. I always appreciate having you as my squad leader."

Axel nodded before turning to his squad. "Alright men, move out!" With that, the three Jedi and their squads left for their ships.

"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on the planet teaming with humans, I will never forgive you," Ratchet threatened after opening the bridge.

"Until we meet again, old friend," Optimus chuckled before sliding his battle mask into place. "Autobots! Roll out!"

Once the command was issued Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Optimus transformed and drove through the bridge.

"Maximum overdrive!"

This order gave them the boost they needed to get out of the green vortex and onto the ginormous space bridge.

"Autobots, transform and gravitize," Optimus commanded.

While still floating, the four Autobots transformed and floated towards the space bridge. Electricity cackled beneath their feet until they landed safely and were stable. Bulkhead wasn't as graceful as the others and stumbled a little before stabilizing himself.

"Don't look down. Or up. Or left," Bulkhead told himself.

Soon, there was a familiar sound of multiple engines. Looking up, they saw not only the Republic Star Destroyers, but the Nemesis with a few Separatist Cruisers tailing behind it. Alora, Anakin, and Ahsoka's squads flew out from their cruiser and made a fly by past the Autobots.

Anakin gritted his teeth at the sight of the Separatist ships. "Admiral Yularen, make a call to Admiral Block, sorry Obi-Wan, we're going to need The Negotiator. It looks like Dooku was in on Megatron's plan. I suspect that Grievous is on that ship."

 _"Right away, General,"_ Admiral Wullf Yularen responded.

"This is where the fun begins," Ahsoka grinned, earning shouts of agreement from her squad.

"May the force be with us all," Alora said, which caused her own squad to whoop with excitement.

Arcee shook her head with a smile at the sound of them all before looking at Optimus. "So Megatron's packing enough Dark Energon to raise Cybertron's dead?"

"And since we don't possess ready means of disabling this space bridge, nothing gets in or out," Optimus proclaimed as he and his fellow Autobots unfolded the blasters from their arms.

* * *

Inside the Nemesis, Megatron stared at his enemies pictured on the Decepticon scanners and Separatist holograms.

"Optimus Prime never disappoints. Unlike you, Starscream!" Megatron snarled.

"Soundwave is locking onto Cybertron's coordinates," Ivy said.

"Per my instructions," Starscream piped in.

Ivy stepped forward and bowed before her father. "Please, father, let me join this battle. Let me make up for my mistake. I can have my own fleet up and running in moments."

Megatron looked over his shoulder at his daughter. "My dear, I know your loyalty is unwavering, however…"

 _"Now now, Lord Megatron, on the contrary, Lord Sidious believes that Ivy needs to step up and prove her worth as the reincarnation of your Sith Queen Violet,"_ Count Dooku said through a hologram. _"It would seem that Neve has submitted a report on your daughter's usefulness to the Separatist cause."_

Ivy bowed her head lower. "Please, father."

The warlord sighed. "Go! Prove to us all what you are capable of."

* * *

 _"Well, what are they waiting for?"_ Ahsoka asked impatiently.

 _"Patience, little one,"_ Anakin reprimanded gently.

"It appears the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system," Optimus observed.

"Huh. That's my handy work," Bulkhead grinned.

"Great work, Bulkhead," Optimus complimented, _"Without the dish, Megatron will be unable to aim the Space Bridge at Cybertron."_

"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?" Raf asked.

The remaining group stood around the computers and a large communication station that displayed various holograms as Obi-Wan stayed in touch with the Star Destroyers and the rest of the team.

"Naturally," Ratchet scoffed, "But Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be astronomically precise."

_"If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his Space Bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system. A remote one."_

"From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there'd exist a single radio telescope dish powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron," Ratchet scoffed once more.

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes?" Raf suggested as he typed in various commands to a nearby computer, "Like the giant Sizer Ray in Texas?"

Ratchet tsked. "This is _not_ child's play!"

 _"Good thinking, Raf. Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff of the security hazard."_ Anakin said.

"You! Soldier! You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!" a very dazed Agent Fowler instructed of a nearby Clone Trooper, who was very confused because he was wearing the pants to his amor.

"That may be a challenge," Ratchet sighed.

"I can't get past the aray's firewalls. They're too thick," Raf groaned.

"You actually think you can actually keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet scoffed in disbelief.

"Maybe, if I can get in," Raf answered.

"Wait, wait, wait. Raf, what if we can get you all the way in?" Ark asked.

"Yeah, like inside-the-building in?" Anika suggested following her brother's lead.

"I could log into their internal networking from the other side of the firewall," Raf answered honestly.

 _"The risk is too great. The Decepticons and Separatists will be there. Perhaps even on-sight,"_ Optimus declined.

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement with the Autobot leader. "We can't continue to put you three in danger."

"Master Kenobi, with all due respect, Optimus said it himself. This is bigger than the safety of three humans," Jack proclaimed.

"Yeah! If we let the 'Cons win, we're fragged along with everyone else on our planet!" Miko added.

Silence followed as all eyes turned to the twelve year old human.

"Raf?" Optimus asked, giving Raf the opportunity to decide.

"I want to give it a shot," Raf decided.

"Very well," Obi-Wan said.

* * *

"Surely, Lord Megatron. The enemy is up to something," Starscream observed.

"Really, Starscream?" Megatron asked sarcastically before pressing a button on the console, "Crush them!"

Ivy grinned from inside her own ship. "Looks like it's my time to shine… All units, deploy!"

With that, droids and Vehicons with the ability to fly followed Ivy's ship out and began their attack while the Separatist Cruisers opened fire on the Jedi Star Destroyer.

"Here comes the welcoming committee!" Bulkhead shouted as another Star Destroyer jumped out from hyperspace and joined in the fight.

* * *

Anika and Obi-Wan found themselves escorting Jack, Miko and Raf through the ground bridge portal to the satellites in Texas. Of course, at this point, the Jedi Master and the Youngling were used to traveling through the bridge, the civilians however…

"That'll take some getting used to," Jack remarked, looking a little green.

"Whoa!" Miko gasped suddenly.

Before them was rows and rows of satellite dishes.

"Come on! We have to hurry!" Anika advised, and the group began to run in, hoping that the workers already inside were not harmed.

* * *

Earth's orbit was currently lighting up like a fireworks show as each side fought one another. Decepticons and droids swarmed the Autobots and the Republic squads.

Optimus shot one Vehicon, grabbed him and threw him at an oncoming Vulture Droid, destroying them both. Bulkhead switched his blaster for his hammer and started knocking heads off. Arcee, too, switched her blasters. But instead of a hammer like Bulkhead, she used the blades in her arms, slicing at the Decepticons she fought. Bumblebee looked over to Alora's squad and saw that there were droids hot on her tail, so he aimed his blaster and shot as many as he could until she could shake them.

* * *

"Security sure is lacking in this place," Miko remarked after she scanned the hallways.

"I'm in…and so are the Decepticons," Raf announced.

"What?" Jack gasped, grabbing the back of Raf's chair.

"How can you tell?" Miko wanted to know.

"Schematics," Raff replied.

"With the same equations we saw on the Nemesis yesterday," Obi-Wan added after taking a closer look.

"But this time, we can download it," Anika said as she took a USB plug out of her belts storage compartment and plugged it into the computer.

"It's gotta be the Space Bridge," Miko said.

"The Decepticons are syncing it to the dishes. But we can sync to them," Raf proclaimed.

"Will they know?" Jack asked nervously.

"Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in their system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house," Raf reassured.

"You still have to be careful. The Decepticons chief intelligence officer is far more clever than one would think," Obi-Wan warned.

What no one knew is that Obi-Wan was on to something, for just in the other room, sat Soundwave as he hacked into the satellite himself.

* * *

Going back to the epic space battle, the space bridge started to shift and vibrate violently, causing a few of the Autobots to stumble.

"What just happened?" Arcee asked as she steadied herself.

"The Decepticons are locking on to Cybertron," Optimus explained gravely.

 _"We need to give Raf a chance!"_ Ahsoka said.

Back on the Nemesis, Starscream was grinning.

"Lord Megatron, the Space Bridge is ready for activation," he announced.

"Finally," Megatron rasped.

* * *

"They're locked on to Cybertron," Anika observed as she looked at where the satellite dishes were displayed on the computer screen before Raf

"But not for long," Raf promised.

Once he had finished typing in his commands, the dishes, which were once pointed up, returned to their normal position.

* * *

Up in space, the Autobots and Decepticons felt the bridge move back to its original position. Bumblebee jumped up and down, cheering, as Optimus took down one last Vehicon standing before him.

"Indeed, Bumblebee. This can only be Raf's doing," he agreed.

"Starscream, what is happening?" Megatron demanded.

Starscream's optics widened nervously before he turned to the com-link system, "Soundwave, what is happening?"

* * *

Back on Earth, Soundwave went through the security footage of the facility until he reached the one of the control rooms where he saw the small group hacking into the systems as well. This wouldn't do at all, and so he extended one of his tentacle arms and went searching for them.

"The dishes are heading back towards Cybertron. I'll just undo that again," Raf sighed.

"What happens when the 'Cons realize they're being punked?" Jack asked curiously.

"It's only virtual combat. You know, like online gaming," Raf answered.

"Yeah, Jack. What are the 'Cons gonna do? They're probably like a thousand miles away," Miko grinned.

But something didn't sit right with Obi-Wan, he had this sinking feeling that something was coming after them. Turning to go check the hallway, he found that the door had been thrown open and the tentacle slithered in. He shouted for Anika as he drew his lightsaber.

Upon hearing this, the four looked over and yelled in shock. Anika quickly drew her own lightsaber and ran beside Obi-Wan, ready to defend the three civilians.

The clawed tentacle slipped in further, wrapping itself around Anika's waist and throwing her against the wall before moving to pull Obi-Wan's leg out from under him and moving on to make quick work of Jack and Miko.

Meanwhile, Raf raced to type in his commands faster. "I won't let them log on again!"

Then the tentacle went after Raf. Thankfully, he was able to unplug his USB containing all the data before dodging the claw.

Miko staggered over to where an axe was resting on hooks against the wall. With a battle cry, she ran forward and took a swing at Soundwave's tentacle, but he dodged the attack and threw her against the wall again. She landed next to Obi-Wan. Jack looked at the two worriedly before he and Anika noticed that Soundwave now had the axe.

"You handed it an axe!" Jack demanded in disbelief.

"Who's side are you on anyway!" Anika exclaimed.

"Not good," Raff gulped.

Obi-Wan stood and used the force to grab his lightsaber. He was about to take a swing before Soundwave could, but the tentacle froze and retracted itself out of the room and down the hall.

Soundwave redirected the satellites back to where he needed them, and used the axe to make sure that no one could meddle with the trajectory again by cutting the hard lines. He looked over his shoulder as the group of humans burst through the doors. Miko gasped and took a picture of him, you know, like any other human would do. So, in turn, he took one of the three civilians before transforming and taking off.

"Why is he leaving?" Miko asked.

Anika knelt before where the axe was and sighed. "He cut the hardline. The dishes are locked onto Cybertron for good."

* * *

"Now, Starscream?" Megatron asked impatiently.

"Now," Starscream grinned as he pressed the button.

Behind the Autobots, the space bridge had activated and all Optimus could do was stand and watch. Megatron, in the meantime, climbed to the top of the Nemesis, carrying the large mass of Dark Energon.

"At last!" he exclaimed before he threw the Dark Energon at the portal.

Alora saw this as a last chance to put a stop to things and redirected her blue and silver star fighter to follow the Dark Energon where she attempted to open fire on it. But, out of nowhere a missile hit Alora, knocking her out and sending her spiraling out of control in a blaze of fire.

Optimus watched the whole thing in horror and looked around to see what shot at his daughter, only to find Ivy flying by, and if you looked closely, you could see her laughing in victory. Republic radio chatter came to life instantly.

_"Mayday! Mayday! Commander Thettaskiff has been hit and is going down!"_

_"Draw their fire! Ahsoka and I will try to guide her to land as safely as we can!"_ Anakin shouted.

He and Ahsoka flew to catch up with Alora until they were both side by side with her on either side.

"Alright, Snips," Anakin directed, "We gotta squeeze in and try to launch her into the landing bay. Her landing is going to be rough, but at least the troopers can put her out and drag her to get some medical attention."

After Ahsoka gave a response acknowledging that she understood, the two rammed into each side of Alora's starfighter so that she was wedged tightly between them. Once it was clear that she was secure, the two guided her as fast as they could towards the Negotiator docking bay where they pulled away at the last second making the starfighter use velocity to launch into the bay, where it scraped painfully loud all the way to the back before coming to a stop against a wall. Troopers were on Alora in seconds, putting out the fire, and opening the cockpit to pull her out and get her on a gurney.

Unfortunately, the whole thing distracted both the Autobots and the Republic enough that the Dark Energon had time to disappear into the portal. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee fell to stand next to their commander and watched as the Dark Energon fell towards their dead planet, landing with a bang. In an instant, all of Cybertron came back to life, and not in the way the Autobots had hoped.

"Arise my legion!" Megatron bellowed from his spot on the Nemesis.

"So, how do we beat a whole planet of the undead?" Bulkhead asked nervously.

" _Optimus!_ I'm registering a rapidly expanding mass in their Space Bridge vortex! One with a peculiar energy signature!" Ratchet announced.

" _Dark Energon. Ratchet, we must destroy the Space Bridge. There's enough_ live Energon coursing through it to achieve detonation. But we lack the fire power to ignite it," Optimus explained.

"If I knew how the Space Bridge was engineered, I might find a tactical way of accomplishing that defeat," Ratchet replied, glancing over at Obi-Wan, who was now in contact with the medics on the Negotiator, trying to find out about Alora's wellbeing.

"Um, would schematics help?" Anika offered as she held up her USB.

"Optimus, I must say. The Space Bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain its destruction is the only option?" Ratchet asked.

"I am afraid so," Optimus answered.

 _"Commander Thettaskiff is in stable condition, she suffered minor burns and a head wound. Although still unconscious, she'll be resting in the med-bay,"_ a medic told Obi-Wan.

Ratchet couldn't help but overhear, and it gave him what he needed to say. "Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour!"

"Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead. While I make my stand," Optimus instructed before they went off to do so.

Optimus was certainly ready to make his stand. In his vehicle mode, Megatron flew towards the Space Bridge. Once he was directly above, he transformed to land on his feet. It was time for the final battle.

"Your fellow Autobots are wise, Optimus. They know when to retreat," he remarked.

"I hold no illusions about engaging your army, Megatron. But I might derail its objective…by removing its head," Optimus warned as he unveiled his blade from his arm.

"Highly unlikely, Optimus, as I am infused with their very might!" Megatron announced pulling out his one blade.

"One shall stand! One shall fall!" Optimus proclaimed.

And so, the epic sword fight between the two began.

* * *

Fowler had finally come out of his dazed stupor, for good this time, and sat himself before the monitors, watching as all hell broke loose. "These things are getting closer! That's bad, right?"

 _"Ratchet, we're in position,"_ Arcee informed.

"Arcee, pay close attention," Ratchet advised.

* * *

The fight continued. Megatron punched Optimus in the face before trying to slash his stomach. He just kept coming at him until Megatron's own sword split Prime's in two and sent him flying. But, before Optimus could get too far, Megatron grabbed him by his leg and slammed him down. Everything was looking bad for Optimus until…

_"Father?"_

Megatron stood straight up and looked out into space for his daughter. "Ivy? What is it?"

"I do not wish to question your all-seen wisdom, but I believe the Autobots are up to something again. Beneath your bridge this time," Ivy warned as she flew past them.

"Ah, misdirection, Optimus. You would have made a fine Decepticon," Megatron grinned, raising his blade.

But Optimus blocked it with the little bit of blade he had left. He has to keep fighting. He had to get back to Alora. He had to tell her the truth and make things right with their family before it was too late.

"I chose my side!" he roared as he threw Megatron towards the giant portal.

Optimus replaced his destroyed blade with his blaster. He began firing shots at the Decepticon Tyrant.

Megatron transformed and flew closer to the portal, watching as his new army came closer.

_"Starscream, my army approaches. Rendezvous with the Space Bridge for pickup. Ivy, return back to the ship, you did well today."_

* * *

_"Now follow the line from the flow regulator to the Energon pump. There should be a valve."_

On the underside of the space bridge, Bulkhead and Bumblebee stood guard while Arcee followed Ratchet's instructions to disable the bridge.

"I see it," she announced.

"Good. To turn all that power against itself, all you need do is reverse the current."

It took almost all of Arcee's strength to turn the wheel before her, but she managed to reverse the current. As soon as she had done it, the bridge started giving off signs that it worked.

_"Current, reversed."_

" _Yes_!" Fowler cheered before looking at everyone, "Right?"

"I'll activate the ground bridge," Ratched declared. "As soon as everyone is back, we can go and check on Alora."

* * *

While the Autobots ran back to meet up with one another so that they could bridge home, Ivy decided that before she returned home herself she would try and pick off one more person, and she had her sights set on Arcee.

Arcee didn't suspect a thing until Ivy's fired shot hit her right in the center of her chest. The femme yelled in pain as she blacked out, and the knock back caused her to demagnetize from the ground and float away.

Ivy grinned in satisfaction and flew back to the Nemesis before it got too far away. However, Ivy found it a little odd that the ship was going in the opposite direction of where Megatron had wanted it.

Megatron had noticed this as well.

"Starscream! Where is my ship!?"

"We would never make it, Lord Megatron! Don't be a fool! Take flight and retreat!" Starscream begged of his master.

* * *

 _"Optimus! The ground bridge is ready and waiting!"_ Ark declared.

"Autobots, jump!" Optimus commanded before he and Bulkhead did just that.

Bumblebee, however, took the scenic route and climbed up a jagged rock to give him enough leverage to grab Arcee when he jumped. She was his older sister, and even though they were both adopted, family meant the world to him, so he wasn't going to let her go that easily.

Meanwhile, Megatron turned to the large portal where his army was almost through. "My legion…"

One of the zombies reached its hand out to him, but before he could take it, the space bridge began to explode.

"No!" He cried as he reached back, but it was too late, the bridge exploded taking him and all the undead with it.

* * *

Back on the Nemesis, Ivy had made it back in time to witness the whole thing. All she could do was stop and stare in horror as her father was caught up in the explosion. Through their family she could feel his spark fade away.

"Decepticons, it is with deep sorrow that I note for the log that the spark of our leader, Lord Megatron, has been extinguished. All hail Lady Ivy!" Starscream proclaimed upon seeing her in the doorway.

The rest of the troops began to chant "All hail Lady Ivy!" And it made her head spin.

No. This wasn't right. Her father, who had cared for and loved her when no one thought he would, who encouraged her throughout all her training, taught her everything she knew about their world, who believed in her every step of the way when her mother didn't, who, despite everything, was the best father one could ask for, dead?

Tears made her vision blur, and she failed to cover her mouth in time before she let out a shrieking sob as she fell to her knees. The crowd immediately fell silent in shock. It was so rare for anyone to witness Ivy break down, save for the team that ran the medical center. She could hear someone transform and use their holoform to make their way to her.

"Everyone! Leave!" Starscream demanded before kneeling in front of Ivy, placing his hands on her shoulders. "My lady?" He spoke softly.

She looked up to meet warm brown eyes filled with worry. Sobbing again, she threw her arms around him. He simply sighed and stroked her hair before picking her up bridal style and leaving the command center.

* * *

"Do you think they're…?" Raf asked nervously.

"Anakin and Ahsoka made it back to the ship with most of their squads intact, Alora…" Obi-Wan sighed, "Alora is a fighter, she's going to be ok."

"And the Bots?" Ark asked.

"Four life signals. One very faint," Ratchet read gravely.

That made everyone turn to the portal and wait in anticipation.

Optimus had been the first to walk through the bridge, followed by…

"Bulkhead!" Miko squealed as she ran down the steps to hug his extended hand.

Jack and Raf ran down to meet their respective guardians anxiously, only to be greeted by Bumblebee carrying an unconscious Arcee. Bumblebee knelt down and one of Arcee's hands fell from her side. Everyone immediately surrounded them.

"We lost one this week. By the All Spark, don't let it be two," Ratchet begged.

"Arcee…" Jack's voice cracked as he touched her hand.

Her optics slowly fluttered open and she gave a weak smile when she saw him, "Jack, really? There are other motorcycles in the world."

He smiled sadly at that. "But you're my first."

"And Megatron?" Ratchet inquired.

"Not even he could have survived Ground Zero," Optimus answered.

"Prime!" Fowler called out,as he adjusted his suit jacket, "I didn't get to thank you all for the save. I owe you one. We all do." With that, the agent left.

"Is this the part where you have to say goodbye and tell us to forget we ever saw you?" Miko asked nervously as Bumblebee helped Arcee to stand.

"No, Miko, this is not the end, merely the beginning," Optimus said before turning to Obi-Wan. "Master Kenobi, is there any way your ship can get into closer range so that we may see Alora? I believe it's time she knows the truth."

Ratchet gasped. "You're going to tell her now?"

"It's better she knows now rather than later," Obi-Wan said. "I will send word now."

"The truth?" Jack asked, "The truth about what?"

* * *

Alora groaned softly as she began to finally wake up. Groggily, she looked around at the white sheet that was pulled up to her chest, the iv that was attached to her non-bandages arm. This scene felt all too familiar to her, almost the same as the day she first woke up in the Jedi temple after she had been rescued from Neve and Count Dooku at the battle of Geonosis. She pulled off her oxygen mask and looked over to where Obi-Wan was sitting, and began to sit up herself.

"Master..?"

Obi-Wan gently helped her to sit up. "Easy now, you have visitors?"

Alora blinked and looked up to find both teams gathered into the room, the Autobots in their holoforms. "Oh… Hey, guys…" She smiled sheepishly, going to scratch the back of her head when she noticed the bandage on her arm. It wasn't the bandage itself that confused her, but rather the color of her blood that had begun to seep through. It was a bright blue. It was Energon blue…

"What the..?"

Ratchet sighed. "Let's let Optimus and Obi-Wan explain in private, since we all know the details." The others nodded in agreement and filed out, Ahsoka offering to give Jack, Miko, and Raf a tour.

Alora frowned. "What's going on? Why am I bleeding Energon?"

"Alora," Optimus began as he sat on the foot of her bed. "There is so much that I need to tell you."

She paused and looked at Optimus with his holoforms deep blue eyes and blue-black hair. "Um, alright…?"

"As you know, your mother was tasked with the mission to give birth to the reincarnations of Arkius, Aloria and Anakania. Ark being Arkius, you being Aloria, and Anika being Anakania," Optimus explained.

She nodded, "Yes, it's why we were named the way we were."

He nodded in return. "Yes, and by the time we Autobots had arrived on earth, your mother and Jedi Master Jaid Tears were already occupying headquarters, and Ark had already been born at that point."

"Not only was your mother tasked with having you and your siblings, but she also has to choose your fathers," Obi-Wan added. "We don't know who Ark and Anika's fathers actually were, but Nola had revealed to me and Master Tears who yours was."

Alora sat up straighter, heart pounding in her chest. "You know who my father is? I-I always thought…" She shook her head. "When Ark, Anika and I were forced to train under Neve, she had told us that Count Dooku was our father."

"No, that is not the case," Optimus said before taking her hand. "Alora, I am your father."

Her eyes widened. "You..? This whole time..? How did I not know!"

"You did, Alora, however, when we found you and took you to the medical center at the Jedi temple, we found that your brain displayed signs of memory loss," Obi-Wan explained, "But it was more like your memories had been tampered with."

"And it made me forget that I'm a techno-organic? That Optimus Prime is my father?" Alora asked.

"And," Optimus said, giving her hand a squeeze. "About your sister."

Alora raised an eyebrow at that. "My sister? I remember everything about Anika."

"But not of Amaris, your twin sister," Optimus corrected.

"My what?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "From what I know, shortly after your mother's death, Master Tears was asked to bring you, Ark and Anika to the Jedi temple so that you may live and train there. Amaris was the only one out of you and your siblings that was not force sensitive, so she was not to go with," he frowned. "But she was there, along with the Autobots to see you off."

"We were attacked, and the three of us were kidnapped as a result," Alora nodded.

"Yes, but Amaris has been caught up in the explosion, and took a nearly fatal wound to her head," Optimus continued. "She lived and healed, but it wasn't until afterwards that we realized that the injury resulted in her losing her memories as well. All she could remember was the nickname your mother gave her."

"Starlet," Alora whispered in slight recognition. "Mother had always referred to one of us as "My little Starlet."

"Yes," Optimus said before sighing sadly. "I loved your mother so much, and she loved me, even though she wasn't allowed to. I had made a promise to her that I would never let anything happen to you and your siblings, but I had failed not only her, but you as well."

Her eyes softened, and she squeezed his hand just like he did.

"I had been so ashamed of what had happened, that I sent Starlet away, to recover and live happily and safe from harm," he explained. "She had been all i had left of our family, and as much as it pained me to send her away I couldn't risk losing her too."

"You did what you felt was right," She whispered. "No one can blame you for that…"

"I had planned on bringing her back one day, but I wanted to wait until you returned to earth."

"But plans changed once I had informed the Autobots of your missing memories," Obi-Wan explained. "So there was never a good chance to reintroduce you two."

"I now had to wait for a moment to tell you everything," Optimus said. "My only regret is that I did not tell you sooner."

Alora shook her head. "What matters is that you're telling me now." She smiled up at him, tears pricking her eyes.

Optimus's deep blue eyes softened, and he carefully pulled her in to hug her. "I swear, Alora, I will fix this. I will find your sister, and we can try to be a family again."

"At least as good of a family as we can be with three Jedi kids," she giggled.

He smiled at that. "Yes, that is true."

* * *

Alora had been released from the med-bay the next day, and over the next couple of days her time was balanced between school, training and finding her sister.

She had learned that Starlet lived in Los Angeles, California with two other techno organic children, one of which was Ratchet's own daughter, named Talia Waters, and the other belonged to Ironhide, another Autobot who had been on earth awhile ago, her name was Autumn Summers. Together, the three lived with Talia and Autumn's mothers named Emily and Kimberly. It turned out that Jack, Miko and Raf hadn't been the first civilians to come in contact with the Bots, as Ratchet admitted that he had loved Emily very much, but when Fowler found out, he had them removed and sent to California and was banned from ever seeing them again. The only time they had been able to contact each other was when Emily had informed Ratchet of Talia and Autumns birth, but since Emily and Kimberly were being watched by the government, Ratchet and Ironhide never got the chance to meet their daughters.

After pulling some strings, Alora managed to convince Agent Fowler to let Talia and Autumn come live with them at base once Starlet was brought home. Should they want to, at least.

There was also something else Alora was dealing with. Shortly after Optimus, or rather, her father, had been done explaining everything to her, the others were let back into the room. Everyone had been happy to see that she was doing alright, but Bumblebee had been happiest most of all.

In fact, he was so happy that he had marched up to her and kissed her. In front of everyone. And to make matters worse, Cybertronian symbols, that later were translated into their names, glowed as they etched themselves onto the tops of their hands. 

“It’s a sign of betrothal,” Ratchet had sighed after inspecting their hands, “The last time I saw this was when Princess Anteia and Prince Akos were betrothed to each other. It was a trick Aloria had developed, and it would seem that she has used it on you both as well. As far as I know, there’s no way out of it.”

Bumblebee and Alora had both been blushing messes, and Ark found it to be hilarious despite the challenges that were sure to come from this. 

Unfortunately, this had to be reported to the Jedi Council, which is what Obi-Wan had been trying to do at that moment. 

And so a new adventure began, and Optimus thought about all of this as he sent a message into space…

_"Without a means of leaving this world, we Autobots take strength in the bonds we have forged with our three young friends. True warriors. If not in body, then in spirit. My name is Optimus Prime. And I send this message. Though we did not choose to be of Earth, it would seem that we are here to stay. If you approach this planet with hostile intent, know this: we will defend ourselves. We will defend humanity. We will defend our home."_


End file.
